Costco’s Bid to Turn Customer Data into Profits
Costco, which ranks among the three largest retailers in the US (and globally), is joining the club of big corporations with access to massive amounts of customer data, who are launching various schemes to monetize that data.
Costco’s plan, still in the testing phase, is to develop a way to target ads at customers both on its website and in stores. The numbers are staggering and draw from the retailer’s loyalty program: the shopping behavior of people in 75.5 million households. And – a membership card is a requirement for anyone shopping at Costco.
The promise of access to shopping habits inevitably includes past purchases and the corporation’s Assistant Vice President of Retail Media Mark Williamson also promised future partners that they will be able to not only target ads (“reach”) members of the Costco loyalty program, but also, “reach the right members in the right context based on past behavior.”
Costco’s effort to keep up with the trends in both retail and ad industries is evident in the fact that Williamson’s job was only created last September.
The race to start using customer data for advertising is rapidly spreading beyond Big Tech and to the likes of Walmart, and Target, but also mega banks, financial institutions, and hotel chains.
Some observers believe these new players in the market have realized they can fill some gaps in the lucrative business created by regulatory efforts, which aim to protect personal data in those places where it has traditionally been harvested and monetized until now – on Big Tech platforms and services.
Playing up the benefit that creating the ad network will supposedly have for customers, Williamson is quoted as saying that the huge profit the giant looks likely to generate in this way will be “reinvested to keeping prices low.”
What is certain to have a low price tag attached to it is the cost of retailers like Costco getting into the advertising business. It’s cheap to run ads, and customers will keep returning whether the ads are there or not, reports note.
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots
Gantz Withdrawal Puts Pressure on Netanyahu
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz announced on Sunday that his party would withdraw from Israel’s emergency government. The move is likely to add pressure to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and give greater influence to hardliners within the government.
“Netanyahu prevents us from getting a real victory. This is why we are leaving the government with a heavy heart but a full heart,” Gantz said.
Gantz has expressed his support for the hostage deal backed by President Biden, which would end the war and see the return of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
In his statement, Gantz called Netanyahu’s promise of a total victory over Hamas “empty.” He said Israelis deserve a “real victory” that “puts the release of the hostages above political survival.
He also called for an early election so that “a real unity government will be formed.”
In response to Gantz’s withdrawal, Netanyahu said, “Israel is in an existential war on several fronts… This is not the time to abandon the campaign—this is the time to join forces.”
Gantz is widely seen as a moderate. His departure is likely to increase international pressure on Netanyahu, and also pressure from hardliners within the emergency government, such as Belal Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. The hardliners will step up their efforts to continue the war in Gaza, as well as to take action against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Even without the support of Gantz, Netanyahu still holds a 64-seat majority in Israel’s Knesset.
Gantz had been due to announce his departure on Saturday, but postponed due to the operation to rescue Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Shortly before Gantz’s announcement on Sunday, the commander of the Israeli Defense Forces Gaza Division, Brig. General Avi Rosenfeld, announced his resignation. He said that he had failed in his duty to protect Israeli civilians on the border with Gaza. He is the first IDF combat commander to resign as a result of the 7 October attacks.
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots
Reuters Now Reporting: Democrats Confess to Lawfare Plan to Silence Alex Jones in Sandy Hook Case
On the Sunday show Alex Jones discussed the current state of the legal battle Infowars is immersed in.
“I never had so many doors opening up, that I’m like ‘my God’ I wanted to retire years ago, I’ve done my job people are awake now it’s up to them, but I can’t because I’m being drafted into total resistance and stuff 10 times bigger,” Jones said.
Don’t miss:
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots
Study: Teachers May Be Misrecognizing Immaturity of Younger Children as ADHD
Teachers may be misrecognizing the immaturity of younger children as signs of ADHD, according to a new meta analysis. The study suggests that chances of diagnosis may be significantly affected by a child’s age relative to their peers in the classroom.
The review of studies is published in the journal European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and reveals that the youngest children in their class are 38% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their oldest classmates.
The authors looked through seven major databases to identify as many studies as possible examining the link between a child’s month of birth and their risk of an ADHD diagnosis or prescription of ADHD medicine. They found 30 studies in total, from Taiwan, Norway, Canada, the US and other nations.
Younger children were also shown to be 28% more likely to take prescription ADHD medication like Adderall or Ritalin.
These effects appear to be being driven by teachers in particular, rather than parents.
There is also evidence extending the link between relative age and diagnosis to autism, but the authors note that further research is needed in this area.
“This review shows that adults involved in identifying or raising concerns over a child’s behavior—such as parents and teachers—may be inadvertently misattributing relative immaturity as symptoms of ADHD. The child’s age in relation to their classmates (their ‘relative’ age) needs to be considered when making this kind of diagnosis,” explains one of the study’s authors.
Although this phenomenon has been attested in research for over a decade, little notice appears to be being taken of it in practice, either by teachers or by physicians and medical professionals.
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots
Vance: Joe Biden Is Trying To “Destroy Everything the Greatest Generation Fought for”
Senator J.D. Vance blasted Joe Biden for using the sacrifice of the Greatest Generation to attack his opponent Donald Trump, in an interview on Fox News at the weekend. He said Biden is trying to “destroy everything they [the Greatest Generation] fought for.”
“He’s made up these ridiculous accusations that Donald Trump doesn’t respect veterans, doesn’t respect the Greatest Generation,” Senator Vance told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo.
“I was with Donald Trump on D-Day in both public and private. He talked constantly about how much he admired those who served, especially in that generation, but in all generations.
Senator Vance was responding to a new Biden attack ad released on Friday that featured comments Trump supposedly made about veterans, such as calling them “losers” and “suckers,” and also negative comments he made about John McCain.
.@JDVance1: Joe Biden is trying to cover himself in the glory of the Greatest Generation despite trying to destroy everything they fought for. pic.twitter.com/RnBELsawnW
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 9, 2024
In a separate statement, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said, “Donald Trump is so self-obsessed that when he hears about service members making the ultimate sacrifice—dying for one’s country—his first instinct is to denigrate their service, sacrifice, and families.”
“Ask the greatest generation what they feel about wide-open borders,” Senator Vance continued.
“Ask the greatest generation what they feel about sex changes for minors.
“The fact that Joe Biden is covering himself in the glory of the very people who fought for something that he’s trying to destroy, is disgraceful. And I hope Americans reject it this November.”
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots
Nearly Two Thirds of Americans Support Deportation of All Illegal Aliens
A significant majority of Americans support the deportation of all illegal immigrants, according to a new CBS / YouGov poll.
The poll, which was published on Sunday, shows that 62% of respondents are in favor of a “new national program to deport all undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. illegally.”
President Trump Lays Out His Mass Deportation Plan
— The Columbia Bugle ?? (@ColumbiaBugle) March 4, 2023
“Under my leadership, we will use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
“We will pick them up, and we will throw them out of our… pic.twitter.com/abFwpCeVxR
Support was obviously strongest among Republicans, with 88% saying they would support deportation of all illegal immigrants.
But support was also strong across racial and political lines. A majority of Hispanics, 53%, would support national deportations, and a significant minority of Democrats, 38%, were also in favor.
The poll also revealed that if such a program were implemented, a large majority, 62%, would be happy with allowing local law enforcement to identify illegal immigrants in their communities. While support for this measure was again strongest among Republicans, a majority of Hispanics (57%) and almost half of Democrats (45%) expressed their support.
There was a clear split, however, when it came to establishing large-scale detention centers “where people would be sent and held, while the government determined whether or not they should be deported.” A majority, 52%, opposed this.
The poll sampled a total of 1615 respondents.
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Gov. Attempts To Euthanize Woman Paralyzed By COVID Shots