They do not exactly rule the world, but they are somehow in control of some of our activities. How is this possible, and what are the mechanics by which they are taking advantage of us? Today, let us take a look at what big data is, what analysts do with it and how it impacts our lives.
What Is Big Data?
Big data refers to a big set of information. It is so big that it is almost impossible to process it using traditional methods. Big data is now a science on its own, and there are many specialists who help big companies process this information.
Gathering and storing large sets of information has been around for a long time. Analytics is not entirely a new concept. Different industries use analysis to make business decisions. Even pharmaceutical industries use this to check if their medicines are effective.
Today, big data mainly refers to things recorded via the internet. Here are some examples:
● Number of users
● Types of content the users access
● Audience retention rate
● Impressions and click-through-rates
● User behaviour
● User demographics like age, sex, location and more.
Big data became popular in the early 2000s. Statisticians use three factors to determine big data. These are volume, velocity and variety.
● Volume – how big is the data? Does the company gather massive amounts of information from users?
● Velocity – how fast does the data change? In the world of the internet, people’s behaviours change quickly because of the myriad of options. Velocity refers to the speed by which data moves and the speed that it should be recorded.
● Variety – what kinds of information are gathered? In big data, they come in different formats like numeric, structured, video, audio, and many more.
So, in essence, big data is about data sets so large that you need massive cloud storage devices. They also refer to data that changes so quickly that you have to store them.
How Is Big Data Used?
Big data is analyzed so the business board can make reasonable decisions. If they know what is going on, they can back their decisions with hard numbers.
For example, a top online casino must know the playtime hours of their members for particular games. This allows them to see whether it is still viable to offer this product to their consumers or not anymore.
Here are some more examples of how big data benefits companies:
• Understanding Customers – big data is important because it tells companies where people are, what they want, what devices they use, and so much more. Because of that, they can create predictive models. For example, they can predict customer churn, and then they can do something to prevent that churn.
• Understanding Business Processes – with big data, retailers can predict which of their stocks need replenishment. Those working in weather stations can also make better and more accurate weather predictions.
As you can see, the two main aspects of big data have something to do with improving business procedures and sales. For business processes, companies can expect less waste, reduce errors and make forecasts so that they can make better business decisions. For customers, companies can improve their retention rate and ensure that their customers stay loyal.
Are Giant Corporations Controlling Us?
Big data is also sometimes called business intelligence. With data come facts, and with facts come business decisions. There is a saying that “he who rules data rules the world.” The question is, how so?
This is made possible by what is called data governance. Just having data is not enough. You need to manage it. In the world of data governance, you have to have a systematic way of saving data, storing it and making an analysis out of it.
If a corporation knows a lot of things about you, then they can steer you in the direction that they want. For example, you will never see a commercial about a product that you have not really shown interest in. If you keep on watching shows about cooking, you are likely to see advertisements about cooking products. However, you are not likely to see ads from people who are selling services on how to build an online store.
How is this possible? Machines make it possible. Machines record where you are, what you search for, what you use and what you like. From these information details, the machine will decide about the best ads to show you. Since the ad you saw matches your interest, you are likely to buy that product. As such, the company that advertised it is pleased with the result of the ad campaign.
Big Data vs Big Brother
In essence, the corporations that have big data do not control us. We just give them something that will help them decide to make a recommendation to us—recommendations based on our interests.
There is no truth to what some conspiracy theorists say. It is not entirely true that those who own big data necessarily rule the world. It’s just that if big corporations have big data, they can use it to make money—not of you, but from advertisers.
Since they know how people behave, then they know what to advertise, to who and where. This makes internet advertising better and more effective than just randomly showing ads to people. Big data is not new, as it has been done with radios and TV before. It just got bigger and more valuable at a scale never seen before.