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I'm tired of Google's business products

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#51

Post by rpastuszak »

> by using Safari instead of Chrome, and not configuring my services properly

I use Chrome for work and Safari as my personal browser and the amount of FUD created by Google is almost hilarious. In 90% of cases it's just a small glitch (e.g. a piece of UI looking a bit shitty on Safari), but in the remaining 10%... I get spiking CPU usage to the point where I could start frying eggs on my MacBook.

I still prefer my browser being occasionally sluggish when using Google services to the ad-infested cesspool my parents' Chrome is.

OK, my Safari can get a bit slow when using Gmail, but at least I'm not browsing the web through a storefront.

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#52

Post by delgaudm »

You might take a look at the Zoho One suite, my experience with Zoho has been great as a small biz, and you definitely get a human when you need support, they are very responsive and helpful. Not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer.

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#53

Post by efa »

ford wrote: post #30
jqpabc123 wrote: post #3

Google is an advertising company. Their productivity apps exist for one reason --- privacy invasion/data collection --- in support of their advertising objectives. Using Google apps for anything other than advertising is like going to a medical doctor for a toothache. You might receive something that temporarily eases the pain but the root problem remains largely unsolved.

Do you think Google is reading the contents of drive documents? I struggle to make the connection between those kinds of business apps and advertising. Perhaps they get some usage data of how/when people work? I do believe much of what Google does (i.e. chrome) is to benefit their ads business, but I think it's a bit cynical to think that's true of every product they have. FWIW I've worked at companies that use both…

>>I struggle to make the connection between those kinds of business apps and advertising.

I'm starting a restaurant. I put together a doc about items I need. All the sudden I'm getting ads for restaurant equipment.

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#54

Post by modeless »

Cordivae wrote: post #18

I hate Google Workspace so much. Not because of the product, which seems fine. But because 10 years ago I signed up for google apps. It was marketed as a way to have a vanity gmail domain. Free forever up to 10 users. I thought it was cool, was a huge Google fan at the time, and created a custom domain for myself and another one for my grandparents. Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a…

> All I ever wanted was my own Gmail domain

You don't need Workspace to use the Gmail UI with your custom domain. All you need is a regular free @gmail.com account. First switch your domain to an email hosting service that provides SMTP and IMAP, you probably get one free from your domain registrar. In Gmail settings for your @gmail account, add your custom domain as an alternate address for sending mail, using your SMTP server. Also configure Gmail to fetch mail from your IMAP server. Voila! Gmail is now a frontend for your custom domain, absolutely free. You can continue to use your existing custom email addresses, and you can forget about Workspace forever.

If you have purchased content such as Play Store apps that are tied to your Workspace account, you can downgrade it to a "Cloud Identity Free Edition" account, and continue to use it. This is a pain, and I think they are finally working on some kind of migration tool to move that content to another account. Hopefully that happens soon.

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#55

Post by jermaustin1 »

Cordivae wrote: post #18

I hate Google Workspace so much. Not because of the product, which seems fine. But because 10 years ago I signed up for google apps. It was marketed as a way to have a vanity gmail domain. Free forever up to 10 users. I thought it was cool, was a huge Google fan at the time, and created a custom domain for myself and another one for my grandparents. Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a…

> Now, 10 years later they are holding my online persona hostage in a shameless cash grab to try and make Workspaces more profitable.

I'm in the same boat, but since ~2006 when I started my first company (dont recall exactly when I set up my google apps account though). I have to chose whether to move my account (which thanks to sign in with google is attached to more places than I can even remember), or pony up $6/mo/user with 20 friends and family having email accounts under my domain.

I have not yet decided what to do. But if I leave Google. I will leave for life, and that includes multiple other Workplace accounts that I already DO pay for. I'm sure losing a few thousand a year doesn't matter to them, but mail-in-a-box seems like a decent fit for my limited email I actually use on those older accounts.

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#56

Post by Beltalowda »

pocketsand wrote: post #24

I created a small ad campaign to advertise a side project. The projects makes no money, has no plan for monetization, does not use passwords. The only personal data it collects is an email address. I bought $50 worth of ads using my credit card. My account was immediately suspended for suspicious payment. I appealed, noting the card was mine, and I bought the ads. The appeal was rejected. I have occasionally tried to…

Did they take the $50 or was the payment rejected? And did you get the money back if they took it?

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#57

Post by [deleted] »

ford wrote: post #30
jqpabc123 wrote: post #3

Google is an advertising company. Their productivity apps exist for one reason --- privacy invasion/data collection --- in support of their advertising objectives. Using Google apps for anything other than advertising is like going to a medical doctor for a toothache. You might receive something that temporarily eases the pain but the root problem remains largely unsolved.

Do you think Google is reading the contents of drive documents? I struggle to make the connection between those kinds of business apps and advertising. Perhaps they get some usage data of how/when people work? I do believe much of what Google does (i.e. chrome) is to benefit their ads business, but I think it's a bit cynical to think that's true of every product they have. FWIW I've worked at companies that use both…

[deleted]

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#58

Post by jqpabc123 »

ford wrote: post #30
jqpabc123 wrote: post #3

Google is an advertising company. Their productivity apps exist for one reason --- privacy invasion/data collection --- in support of their advertising objectives. Using Google apps for anything other than advertising is like going to a medical doctor for a toothache. You might receive something that temporarily eases the pain but the root problem remains largely unsolved.

Do you think Google is reading the contents of drive documents? I struggle to make the connection between those kinds of business apps and advertising. Perhaps they get some usage data of how/when people work? I do believe much of what Google does (i.e. chrome) is to benefit their ads business, but I think it's a bit cynical to think that's true of every product they have. FWIW I've worked at companies that use both…

Do you think Google is reading the contents of drive documents?

Google's definition of "reading" involves human eyeballs.

Do they have algorithms in place that can collect personal data from drive documents?

Most likely.

It's been proven that they scan your mail for every scrap of available info such as web links and purchases receipts. Why would they treat other documents any differently when there is no legal requirement to do so?

https://mashable.com/article/gmail-tracks-your-purchases

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#59

Post by thisiscorrect »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #50
thisiscorrect wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which of Google's productivity apps collect your data for ads? Can you provide some proof?

The fact that Google engages in and facilitates privacy invasion shouldn't need proof at this point. https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/gmail-snooping/ Can you prove or show anything in their terms of service or privacy policy that legally prevents it? Being a profit driven company, the only reasonable assumption is that anything that can be used to increase profits will be used.

The link you included seems to have nothing to do with our claim that Google is using data from their office apps for advertising. It looks like it was about people explicitly granting vetted third-party apps access to the content of their email. What's the connection?

Re: I'm tired of Google's business products

#60

Post by shaky-carrousel »

sqlpipe wrote: post #36
pocketsand wrote: post #24

I created a small ad campaign to advertise a side project. The projects makes no money, has no plan for monetization, does not use passwords. The only personal data it collects is an email address. I bought $50 worth of ads using my credit card. My account was immediately suspended for suspicious payment. I appealed, noting the card was mine, and I bought the ads. The appeal was rejected. I have occasionally tried to…

"I've called Google to try to talk to them"... Currently contemplating this, but am certain it will leave me with a feeling of "well, I'll never get that 30 minutes back"

Google has reinvented Soviet bureaucracy.
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