Donna Bogatin is **** as always.
Replace **** with your favorite derogatory term. |
The point is, if you keep yourself out of trouble, Google won't give your information away. |
<< The point is, if you keep yourself out of trouble, Google won't give your information away. >>
i think youre right Haochi :) |
That's not that point. The "author" wants to say that Google makes a lot of money from the stupid users. Gmail is free, but Google makes money from it, and not just from ads, but by using information about you (what you like, what you read, what you click). |
Ionut: Strong words. :-) But yes – you are right. I don´t understand two things. Why such articles are always about Google – Gmail is not the only one webmail, Google is not the one website which takes so many information about its users. And idea that users should demand money from Google for using Gmail... oh, funny. Yes, it´s possible that one day one company will decide that their users are generating really much money for them so they can afford to pay them for it. And that would be really nice competitive advantage. But that´s not anything that anybody could demand. There are many offers, so choose the best one for you and that´s all. |
What's odd is that people think this is a new strategy unique to Google.
Giving away something free (or nearly free) to make money is the oldest trick in the book – used to be you got 'free samples', or bookclubs with cheap joining offers.
Newspaper fees barely cover delivery costs, advertising pays the bills. Phone companies make money by giving you a 'free' phone but locking you in to a monthly spend. Cable TV companies give you a 'free' decoder box but charge you for subscription fees. Google gives me 'free' email but shows me adds.
Google here have reserved the right to monetise GMail in ways we haven't considered yet, most likely in a personalised way by using your information. My response to this is 'duh'. Of course they are. If it gets too intrusive or annoying I'll stop using it. |
