A call for tenders has been opened to continue the “social listening” missions, consisting of monitoring topics that emerge on social networks. A practice far from being new and which only relies on public content.
Matignon wants to continue its digital monitoring. The Government Information Service (SIG), in charge of executive communication, has published a call for tenders for the start of 2025, reports the media l'Informed. In fact, this is the renewal of a public contract already awarded four years ago, with the aim of finding service providers responsible for scanning social networks.
Until then, companies like Visibrain, Talkwalker and Newswhip were responsible for uploading French publications to the main social networks like Twitter, Instagram or Tiktok. The goal: to analyze millions of posts to better understand emerging areas of concern. The budget is, however, increasing sharply: from 2.8 million over four years, it has now risen to more than 5 million euros.
“Complementary tools for opinion studies”
With Tech&Co, the SIG specifies that this is a renewal “for a maximum of four years, of an ongoing contract, which expires on March 28, 2025”. The aim is to select service providers to carry out digital monitoring “for the benefit of all ministries and the Prime Minister's services”, it is specified.
According to the terms of the call for tender, the request concerns “the provision of social and search listening tools and studies (analysis of social networks and online searches, editor's note), to measure the impact on online conversations to detect, analyze and measure Internet users' concerns and expectations regarding Government action and current events in general.
“These are complementary tools to opinion studies, which simply analyze what is broadcast (publicly, editor’s note) on social networks” specifies a government source to Tech&Co.
Several batches are planned, with the aim of monitoring the dynamics of the subjects discussed on social networks. For example, a service provider will be responsible, using algorithms, for analyzing content that is widely commented on social networks.
Another lot will be awarded to a service provider for “search listening”. According to the information provided by the SIG to Tech&Co, the aim is “to study the most spontaneously searched keywords in order to enrich communication strategies”.
“No surveillance”
Here again, this is a monitoring strategy used for a long time, using providers specializing in the analysis of Google searches. Obviously, it is not a question of accessing the personal searches of Internet users, but of the list of keywords most searched for by the French.
This data is public and shared by Google with partners using its API, a programming interface allowing you to “connect” to its services.
Finally, one of the lots will be intended to find a service provider capable of detecting “weak signals qualified to distinguish those which are most likely to need to be taken into consideration by public action”. In other words, subjects which are only lightly discussed on social networks, but whose dynamics show that they could gain momentum.
“There is no monitoring. The goal is simply to take the pulse of French society, as any government should do” assumes a government source, still with Tech&Co.
