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A megathread on breaking away from Google

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Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#21

Post by fwdpropaganda »

relics443 wrote: post #19
fwdpropaganda wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believe they use the information I share to enrich my user experience. Manifestly false. They use your information to target ads. The pages that you've browsed will affect the ads you see on youtube and the paid search results you get. That's right, the paid search results you get are modified not to enrich your experience, but because some advertisers pay more for people with your browsing profile. Does that imp…

YMMV but it improves my experience because I get to use all these great products and features Google has, without lifting a finger, and in most cases without paying a penny. All I have to do is ignore the ads on my screen (which my brain seems to already do).

> all these great products and features Google has

My post wasn't meant to dissuade anyone who's happy with being tracked from using google.

I was merely pointing out that the post I was responding to tone of "google is tracking me for my sake" is in most instances based on nothing but faith, and in other cases known counter-examples exist.

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#22

Post by jrnichols »

Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself.

I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when they're using Android, Google Photos, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Chat (or whatever it's called this week,) Google Music, Google Play, and maybe youTube, I mean Google TV.

The Apple ecosystem has been pretty good for me.

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#23

Post by bobdole1234 »

jrnichols wrote: post #22

Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself. I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when the…

You understand that Apple uses Googles infrastructure to provide services, right?

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#24

Post by jacksmith21006 »

mattnewport wrote: post #3

I've been mostly Google free for a while now, other than for some work stuff where I have to access some Google Apps docs. I also still use YouTube because that's where lot of the content still is sadly. What I'm using instead: - Search: DuckDuckGo, occasionally Bing - Phone: Windows Phone, pre ordered a Purism Librem 5 - Browser: mostly Firefox and Brave, Edge on mobile and occasionally on desktop - Maps: Bing Maps…

Curious on how would using Microsoft be better?

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#25

Post by jacksmith21006 »

mattnewport wrote: post #9
dublinben wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What concerns about Google have you addressed by using alternative services from Microsoft?

To me Microsoft seems the least bad option these days when there aren't great FOSS options available. I've had a strict no Apple policy for many years so while I wait for the Librem 5 Windows Phone seems like my least bad option. I looked into some of the open Android based alternatives a bit (Lineage etc) but there don't seem to be really great options currently. For maps I should probably look at Open Street Maps m…

MS actually puts ads in the OS and also nags constantly to use Edge.

But then on top MS solutions less quality, imo, than Google.

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#26

Post by jacksmith21006 »

jrnichols wrote: post #22

Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself. I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when the…

Apple is just using Google.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/apple-confirms-it-uses-googl... Apple confirms it uses Google cloud for iCloud - CNBC.com

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#27

Post by repolfx »

fwdpropaganda wrote: post #16
go_prodev wrote: post #15

What's with all the tinfoil hats? Google != Facebook. Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I believe they use the information I share to enrich my user experience. It seems less about monetization and more about providing customized services. What am I missing?

> I believe they use the information I share to enrich my user experience. Manifestly false. They use your information to target ads. The pages that you've browsed will affect the ads you see on youtube and the paid search results you get. That's right, the paid search results you get are modified not to enrich your experience, but because some advertisers pay more for people with your browsing profile. Does that imp…

It does both. I'm going to see ads no matter what, if I'm not paying. Seeing ads that might be occasionally relevant to me is better an the prior status quo of seeing seizure-inducing punch the monkey ads. These days I mostly see ads for programmer tools: I'm a happier web user as a result.

This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by the press as part of a proxy fight against Google and Facebook as disintermediators. It doesn't seem based on anything real.

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#28

Post by fwdpropaganda »

repolfx wrote: post #27
fwdpropaganda wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believe they use the information I share to enrich my user experience. Manifestly false. They use your information to target ads. The pages that you've browsed will affect the ads you see on youtube and the paid search results you get. That's right, the paid search results you get are modified not to enrich your experience, but because some advertisers pay more for people with your browsing profile. Does that imp…

It does both. I'm going to see ads no matter what, if I'm not paying. Seeing ads that might be occasionally relevant to me is better an the prior status quo of seeing seizure-inducing punch the monkey ads. These days I mostly see ads for programmer tools: I'm a happier web user as a result. This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by t…

> This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by the press as part of a proxy fight against Google and Facebook as disintermediators. It doesn't seem based on anything real.

Just to be clear, are you saying that the claim that google and facebook have vast amounts of information about you doesn't seem based on anything real?

Re: A megathread on breaking away from Google

#30

Post by harrygeez »

jacksmith21006 wrote: post #25
mattnewport wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me Microsoft seems the least bad option these days when there aren't great FOSS options available. I've had a strict no Apple policy for many years so while I wait for the Librem 5 Windows Phone seems like my least bad option. I looked into some of the open Android based alternatives a bit (Lineage etc) but there don't seem to be really great options currently. For maps I should probably look at Open Street Maps m…

MS actually puts ads in the OS and also nags constantly to use Edge. But then on top MS solutions less quality, imo, than Google.

We need to stop pretending Microsoft's the only company that puts ads on their OS.

The only consumer products I think Google does better are YouTube, Maps and search. Office+Outlook > Gsuite. Windows Phone > Android if weren't for the lack of apps. Windows > Chrome OS.

Outlook > Gmail probably comes down more to preference but I'd like to hear why you think Google's offerings are better.

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