Tech

Google has the 'incredibly tone-deaf' Zuckerberg to thank for the lack of scrutiny: NYU's Galloway

Key Points
  • Thanks to Zuckerberg's missteps, Google has managed to stay on the sidelines of the regulation conversation, said NYU's Scott Galloway.
  • But Galloway said Google is equally as "scary" as Facebook from a privacy perspective.
NYU Stern's Scott Galloway says Mark Zuckerberg is the best thing to happen to Google
VIDEO1:1101:11
NYU Stern's Scott Galloway says Mark Zuckerberg is the best thing to happen to Google

Google has so far avoided deep scrutiny over data privacy, and the technology giant has Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to thank for that, according to Scott Galloway, NYU Stern professor of marketing.

"The best thing that happened to Google was this incredibly tone-deaf 33-year-old CEO named Mark Zuckerberg," Galloway said on CNBC's "Squawk Alley."

Zuckerberg "has become the unwitting poster child for everything wrong with big tech and is taking all the arrows. Quite frankly, a few should go to Google," he added.

Thanks to Zuckerberg's missteps, Google has managed to stay on the sidelines of the regulation conversation. But Galloway said Google is equally as "scary" as Facebook from a privacy perspective.

"Google got very lucky. We'll see if it lasts, because they have just as much data, they are just as scary, their platforms are weaponized, too," Galloway said.

Should regulation pass — and Galloway insists it is more likely to come by way of Europe or state-level attorney generals, than by way of D.C. — he agrees it will come for all technology companies, even Google.

Shares of Google-parent Alphabet fell 4.9 percent Tuesday after topping Wall Street expectations for first-quarter earnings and revenue.

Facebook's stock also slid 3.7 percent on Tuesday, and its shares are down 9.7 percent year to date.