details of expenditure for advertising on Google
Dear Department of Finance and Deregulation,
Can you please provide details of all expenditure for online advertising on Google owned products for the period January 1st 2006 to January 17th 2013.
This request includes payment to media aggregators that place Federal governments advertisements on Google owned products or through google owned services like Doubleclick.
Please note the following:
1. This evidence will be entered into discovery in a court case against Google.
2. I have documented Federal government advertisements placed through Google services on the websites particularised in my claim.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Janice Duffy
UNCLASSIFIED
Good Morning Dr Duffy,
Thank you for your FOI application to the Department of Finance and
Deregulation (Finance).
Before we can accept your request as valid under section 15(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) we would like to clarify what
information you are requesting from Finance, to enable us to identify
relevant documents. Subject to clarification we can then proceed to
process your request under the FOI Act.
Background – role of Finance
Finance administers the Australian Government’s Central Advertising System
(CAS), which consolidates government advertising expenditure to secure
optimal media discounts on Commonwealth-wide media rates. Australian
Government departments and agencies subject to the Financial Management
and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) are required to place their
advertising through the CAS.
Further information about the CAS is available here:
[1]http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/in...
Campaign advertising expenditure by FMA Agencies placed through the CAS is
publicly reported on a biannual basis – see
[2]http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/ca...
Expenditure in the publicly available reports indicated above is
aggregated by channel - one of which is digital, but it does not set out
expenditure by specifically owned products (such as Google).
Master media contracts
Finance manages two master media agency contracts under the CAS and those
Contractors may have some of the information you are seeking under your
FOI request. The current contracts commenced in May 2009.
The right of access under the s11 of the FOI Act is to documents, not
information, however, Finance is happy to consider collating the
information regarding total expenditure by year in the form of a summary
table (see further below).
FOI Request
You have asked for:
details of all expenditure for online advertising on Google owned products
for the period January 1st 2006 to January 17th 2013.
This request includes payment to media aggregators that place Federal
governments advertisements on Google owned products or through google
owned services like Doubleclick.
We would like to clarify if the expenditure you are referring to relates
to Finance expenditure or all Commonwealth Agencies? Finance will only
have access to information of expenditure placed under the CAS
arrangements. Where Agencies place advertising directly, including where
it does not meet the threshold amounts, or placement on social media
outside the CAS, Finance will not have this data.
You have asked for expenditure on Google owned products or through Google
owned services like Doubleclick. Finance does not have the ability nor
does it propose to assess what may or may not be Google owned products.
We can ask our contracted service provider to identify total expenditure
to Google and Doubleclick. If you require other entities you will need to
nominate those entities.
You have also asked for expenditure for a very large timeframe, being
January 2006 to January 2013. As noted above, our current master media
agency contracts commenced in May 2009.
Finance is willing to provide you with a summary table of total costs
relating to Finance’s expenditure, or if you require data relating to
total expenditure under the CAS (which would include other Commonwealth
Agencies), we can consult with our contracted providers and advise you of
the estimate of charges. This would reduce the processing time for your
request.
For example:
Year Expenditure (total)
2009 (from May)
2010
2011
2012
Please let us know if you would like to receive the information in this
form, including whether you would like data relating to Finance
expenditure or other Commonwealth Agencies, and we can proceed to process
your FOI request and prepare an estimate of charges.
Summary
For the sake of clarity we will not continue to process your FOI request
with Finance until further clarification about the scope of your request
is provided.
Please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team on (02) 6215 3267 or email
[3][email address] if you wish to discuss the scope of your FOI request
or clarify any aspect of our advice. We are also happy to call you. If
you would like us to call you directly please provide a telephone contact
and a time that would be convenient for you.
We look forward to hearing back from you.
Kind Regards,
FOI Team
Department of Finance and Deregulation
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/in...
2. http://www.finance.gov.au/advertising/ca...
3. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI Requests,
Thank you for your response. I will consider your comments over the next few days and provide further details for my request as you suggested.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Janice Duffy
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Dr Duffy
Attached correspondence relating to your FOI request.
Regards
[1]Department of Finance and Deregulation
Jill Clark
FOI Co-ordinator
Legal Services Branch
Chief Operating Officer Group
Department of Finance and Deregulation
T: 02 6215 1783 | E: [2][email address]
A: John Gorton Building, King Edward Terrace, PARKES ACT 2600
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Dr Duffy
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request (our
ref FOI 13/12).
Kind regards
FOI Team
Department of Finance and Deregulation
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear FOI Requests,
I apologise for failing to respond. The emails seemed to become buried an a folder in my inbox and I only just found them. For some reason this happens ith my blog email account. I will review the above responses ver the net few days and reply
Yours sincerely,
Dr Janice Duffy
Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information section of the
Department of Finance and Deregulation. We have received your email and
will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.
You may view further information relating to Freedom of Information on the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s [1]website.
[2]Signature blocks-blue bar.jpg
Freedom of Information
Legal and Strategic Support Branch
Department of Finance and Deregulation
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
Caled Hund left an annotation ()
The request was not refused. As the department advised on 21 March Dr Duffy did not respond within 14 days as requested, therefore the request was deemed withdrawn as per the FOI legislation.
Caled Hund.