A photo of a hand holding a smart phone.
Cox Media Group wrote about using "Active Listening" to help advertisers target customers in a deleted blog post.
  • Cox Media Group wrote about "Active Listening" in a recent blog post to help with targeted ads.
  • It claimed to be able to use smart devices to listen in on conversations and advertise based on what is heard.
  • It's unclear whether this is something that is actually happening, and the company has since deleted the page.

It sounds like something you'd hear from your paranoid friend: your devices are listening to you so that companies can market items to you based on your conversations.

Except that's exactly what a marketing company is bragging about, a new report from 404 Media reveals.