Google Inc (GOOG) & Facebook Inc (FB): Big Data as Big Brother

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Similarly, recently public Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:SPLK), which describes itself as the “leading software platform for real-time operational intelligence,” enjoyed revenue growth of 54% in the first quarter as it signed up more than 350 new enterprise customers that look to it to process and analyze the data dump their receiving.

Right now these companies are still seen as investment-grade opportunities, but as the snooping scandal widens, investors may just begin to cast a dark eye their way as well. We already think it’s a bit creepy how Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) “knows” the kinds of ads to display on our web pages through AdWords, but it also just released a white paper showing the predictive capabilities of which movies will be hits based on “the timing and category of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) searches and paid clicks.”

In all honesty, I don’t think the public at large will make that leap between the government’s spying on us and what big business is using big data for because it has a short memory. How many times has Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) become embroiled in a “privacy” spat with its users, yet its user base continues to grow? Revenue jumped 37% in the first quarter and daily active users soared 26% to 665 million (monthly users were up 23% to 1.11 billion).

So if you’ve bought shares in large, established big data players like International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL), or even smaller upstarts like Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:SPLK) and Tibco Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX), don’t worry about selling the stock any time soon. Should more damning news like the PRISM program be revealed, these stocks could be cast in a bad light. But since we’re unwilling to stop broadcasting our most intimate details on the web, there’s going to be a market for that data and for companies to process and analyze it. And perhaps even get in bed with the government to facilitate it.

The article Big Data as Big Brother originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL). The Motley Fool recommends Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Tibco Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX). The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) Machines, and Oracle.

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