• Chipthemonk@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I do not trust Google at this stage. I pine for the day when Google seemed like a good company. Gmail was awesome when it came out, for example, and Google search worked well. Now I feel they are harvesting all my data to jam ads down my throat. Google search now sucks ass and just returns websites that have a bunch of AI nonsense or aggregated content that is effectively worthless.

    I am migrating away from Google.

    • joe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      Now I feel they are harvesting all my data to jam ads down my throat.

      I’m curious: how did you expect them to pay for the overhead of providing this service? I’m sure you didn’t think that they would just eat the cost of providing it forever, right?

      • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Not that I disagree, but this is a shit take IMHO. It’s always been the case that ads paid for “free” services, but the scale and invasiveness of the ads and data collection has clearly accelerated beyond a reasonable level. They waited until they captured a large enough user base and crowded out enough of their competition before gouging their users for ad revenue. They have the size and reach of a small(or medium-sized, even) nation, the data they are able to collect is a wet dream for any three letter agency.

        Just because ads are what make the business model feasible doesn’t mean they get a free pass to abuse their market position carte blanche. They should be cut down to size, and not just by user migration.