MindSift, a small New Hampshire-based company, is part of a new push that aims to target ads by listening to peoples’ everyday conversations through microphones in their smart devices, according to a review of recently deleted sections from MindSift’s website and comments made on a podcast unearthed by 404 Media.
MindSift has been deleting details about its technology from the internet in recent days, but two of the three founders of the company go into detail about their technology on a small podcast they cohost called “Real Business Roundtable” where they give advice to entrepreneurs. In an episode about “Messaging,” Andy Galeshahi, one of the cofounders of the company, says when discussing MindSift to potential clients. “I’ll say like, ‘Hey, have you ever talked about something and saw an ad for it?’ We’re the guys. That’s us. We distribute the tech. The technology has been around for a while but the torch has been passed.” Most episodes of the podcast have under 50 views on YouTube.
MindSift claims they get access to this type of data through another vendor, who they do not name: "Thankfully, we were able to get our hands on it from a very long-standing relationship that we had with a technology group, and now we are bringing this to small, medium, and even large businesses," Galeshahi said in an October, 2022 episode of the podcast called “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.”
The news provides the clearest evidence yet that some companies claim to have crossed the line of listening to ambient audio around consumers through their own devices, picking up on what themes they are talking about, and then targeting ads to them based on those utterances. The findings come after 404 Media first revealed that a section of Cox Media Group (CMG) had recently pitched such a capability to businesses. MindSift’s founders provide more information about the supply chain of microphone data.
“Yes, your devices are listening to you. :)” a section of MindSift’s website discussing the company’s key features recently read. “By leveraging voice data, our technology is able to gain a deeper understanding of consumer behavior and intent. This information can then be used to deliver personalized and relevant advertising content,” the site adds. MindSift’s website says the company does this by analyzing “millions of device’s [sic] microphone data.” MindSift summarizes its capability as making “it possible to know exactly when someone is in the market for virtually any product or service in real-time, giving you a significant advantage over competition.”
In recent days, MindSift deleted this section and others from its site. 404 Media was able to recover a Google cache version which still included the passages.
The deleted sections contained alleged testimonials from MindSift clients. They include Tulley BMW, Hotels.com, Apartments.com, Senco Home Improvements, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). None of these companies responded to requests for comment, and it is not clear from the website if they specifically used voice tracking technology or if they only used other services from MindSift.
MindSift’s website is not especially clear about how the technology works, and does not say exactly how the company manages to source data from microphones. It does say that MindSift’s ultimate end product is a list of “real time, ready buyers” that can then be uploaded to advertising platforms. Essentially, MindSift is claiming it can find consumers who are likely in the market for certain products based on microphone data and then provide the data necessary to target those people with ads.
The company is made up of Jay Spencer, president; Andy Galeshahi, vice president; and Jake Savage, vice president. The company only publicly emerged recently, posting about its new website on Instagram in February. The company itself was incorporated in Nashua, New Hampshire in April, according to public records. The company’s description on LinkedIn states “MindSift offers the best of class AI driven customer audience prediction technology available in today’s world. We specialize in real time voice and behavioral tracking.”
In an episode of their podcast called “HOW TO GROW A CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS,” Galeshahi said “We have access to something very special, it will allow you to get the most juice out of the squeeze for your advertising, by knowing who wants that service based on their actual needs, them being qualified.”
“Say, somebody says ‘The roof is leaking,’ they actually say it near their phone, you want to make sure that you are tapping into that opportunity and being able to connect with these people on a one-to-one basis. ‘Hey, I offer roofing,’ by the way, when you’re using [data] in this way, you know the person has a leaky roof,” he added, making a direct reference to possible access to phone microphone data. “You’re serving them an ad directly on Facebook or Instagram right when they express that need, so don’t be shy to technology.” Meta did not respond to a request comment on whether any ads on its platforms have been targeted with this sort of data.
In the episode from October 2022 called “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE,” Galeshahi and Savage talk about how many businesses think that they can just buy Google Search data, and that’s enough for their advertising needs: “The first thing you want to ask [a marketing tech company] is ‘How many data sources are you scraping, and what kind of data sources?’ You want an idea: ‘Are we scraping voice? Are we scraping social media behavior? Are we scraping shopping behavior?,’” Galeshahi said. “It’s scary how many small business owners don’t know this stuff exists. They’ll say ‘Oh yeah, I see ads for things that I’ve talked about.’And I’ll say ‘OK, that’s sort of like it yes, but this is more, you know, the team of the crop, best of the best ability we’re talking about.’”
“This may sound bad. It may sound like ‘Oh, they’re spying on us,’” Savage responded. “It’s creepy, it’s new, you know. These technologies are listening to you, but it helps you get advertising that is curated to what you actually want, what you actually need.”
On Friday, 404 Media phoned the office number for MindSift. A man answered but declined to identify himself nor answer specific questions about MindSift. The company did not respond to a follow up email.
