This claim has been circulating widely on social media this past week. According to the claim, Google and Facebook are partnered with a company that listens to smart devices to serve targeted ads. And the company, Cox Media Group, has confirmed that it currently uses “Active Listening” to target consumers – which include Google and Facebook users.
The most viral post by the account Dexerto has over 10 million views, and links to an article with the headline “Google & Facebook partner admits it can listen to device microphone to serve ads” on its own entertainment news platform of the same name.
However, upon reading the Dexerto article, it appears to be a short piece based on original reporting by 404 Media (an independent technology and internet platform) and does not actually confirm that smart devices are currently or actively being listened to by either Google or Facebook. Nonetheless, this headline has been used has the main source of social media claims – and, subsequently, taken by some posters as confirmation that tech companies are engaging in unlawful or unethical surveillance. 
The original reporting from 404 Media is focused on Cox Media Group (CMG), an American media company, rather than on Facebook and Google. The 404 Media article reveals CMG are claiming to offer services which use data from device microphones to generate targeted ads. It investigates the use of such “Active Listening” ad targeting and elaborates on how CMG are pitching their marketing services to potential clients – sharing a full copy of the pitch deck they obtained.
As 404 Media points out, CMG’s pitch deck includes a slide of their partners – with Google, Amazon, and Facebook prominently displayed – possibly to imply that voice data is being collected from devices associated with those companies. However, the pitch deck does not explicitly mention what devices they are collecting data from – nor does it specifically cite examples of the active listening service being successfully carried out.
When 404 Media reached out to the named partners, Google responded by removing CMG from their Partners Programme, while Amazon and Meta similarly distanced themselves from the company. Amazon has since further stated that “Amazon Ads has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so.”
While it does appear true that CMG is pitching a service that uses voice data collected from smart devices for targeted ad services, based on our research there is no indication that they are specifically doing so in collaboration with big tech companies such as Google or Facebook. Rather CMG appear to be part of their advertising programmes (such as Google’s Partner program) in the capacity of an agency who runs ads on those platforms for their clients.
A 404 Media journalist, Samantha Cole, has since responded to the viral Dexerto post emphasising that their framing of the claim is “not what our coverage reported and their aggregation of it is wrong too.”
She further lists several points of context not included by the post – namely that Facebook and Google have since denied “partnership” and that the sales pitch does not necessarily translate into “real technical offerings.”
Therefore, based on the available information and reporting, the claim that Google and Facebook are using our smartphones or devices to listen in on our conversations for advertising purposes is unsubstantiated. The claim uses vague language to sound more inflammatory – for instance, suggesting that Google or Facebook are involved with the CMG’s data collection practices, or implying that CMG is actively using that data to advertise large tech platforms.
While technology and advertising tactics associated with smart devices is rapidly developing and it is impossible to exclude the notion that “big tech” is already actively and covertly listening unbeknownst to us, the CMG pitch deck is not the smoking gun that proves it so. We therefore give this claim a rating of false.
Despite clarifications made by 404 Media Journalists and newer articles attempting to provide fuller context, the viral claim by Dexerto continues to gain views – 10 million compared to Samantha Cole’s 26 thousand. And, although Dexerto’s platform is large (including “verified organisation” status on X), it is, according to one tracker, also the 12th most community noted account on X. This means that the account has been frequently flagged under X’s crowdsourced fact-checking system and tagged with a correction, clarification, or ‘misinformation’ label.
Its use of incomplete reporting with carefully crafted headlines to maximise virality whilst also being cautious about making overly definitive claims is something that can be seen in many other similar pieces of misinformation. The lack of correction or updates with more complete information further allows inaccuracies to spread. As such, approaching news sources with caution (regardless of their size and view count) and being aware of differences in quality or reliability is more important than ever.
