The beauty of the free-to-use concept, or is it?

17

September

2022

Being Google’s consumer is not what it looks like. What’s the reason why we get to use their services for free?

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Aren’t we lucky to find the quickest route to our friends’ house via the Google Maps application? Or in case that we want to login at an e-commerce site, that we can just login with our Google account? Google is such a massive vendor of software, that we don’t even search for things, but we actually “Google” it. But, are we actually so lucky that we can use their products for free?

Despite the simple answer being yes, I would like to give you some more context on why the answer of no also could be a valid answer. Therefore, we’ll first take a look at the business model that Google utilizes. Have you ever heard of the following statement?

Google Users – You’re The Product,

Not The Customer– (Keper, 2013)

This statement refers to the users of Google’s services, who think they consume the product, but in fact it is the other way around, but how exactly?

To understand how that statement refers to the business model of Google, it is important to realize that Google tracks your behavior. This tracking not only happens within their own products like Google Maps, Search and Chrome, but also on your favorite e-commerce sites and even in some applications on your mobile phone. This makes them very powerful with data on what you do, what you see and what you like. See where we are heading to?

A webpage full of advertisements

By knowing what you do, see and like, Google has much information about you. With this information, they serve you with adverts, tailored to your preferences and interests. These ads are being bought by other firms that want to sell you their products or services. Companies are way more willing to pay if they know their ads are ending up by the people who actually are interested in buying a product. 

So now the question is, are we actually lucky to use Google’s products for free? For me personally, I am happy with using Google’s products in exchange for my data. Though, it must be noted that I also make use of browser-extensions and network-level extensions that block third-party-tracking. However, even if I didn’t have these blockers, I think I would still use Google’s product. The very ease and great usability isn’t worth it to stop using the services. Oh, and by the way, what should we use other then Google? Aren’t we “trapped” in it together?

Exactly for that reason, regulations are being made by the governmental institutions. Think of the GDPR, which is already a step in the right direction to protect consumers’ digital rights. My feeling says that these types of regulations will only grow more in presence. For example, some regulations on preventing third party trackers are in the making. However, Google already is working on server-side level tracking. Isn’t it a cat and mouse game after all?

Are you happy to use Google and the other products for free, in exchange for the data you leave? Or are you willing to pay for their services in return that they don’t track you?

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References used for this article

Header image extracted from: https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/google-tracks-your-movements-can-you-stop-it/

Chandler, N. (2022, August 24). What If There Were No Google? HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 17 September 2022, from https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-no-google.htm

India Times. (2020, October 26). Three important numbers that prove Google is ‘everywhere’ in your life. The Times of India. Retrieved 17 September 2022, from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/three-important-numbers-that-prove-google-is-everywhere-in-your-life/articleshow/78867828.cms

Kepes, B. (2013, December 4). Google Users – You’re The Product, Not The Customer. Forbes. Retrieved 17 September 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/benkepes/2013/12/04/google-users-youre-the-product-not-the-customer/?sh=39d2bbff76d6

Lardinois, F. (2014, April 17). Google Analytics Now Lets You Track Web And App Data In A Single View. Retrieved 17 September 2022, from https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/17/google-analytics-now-lets-you-track-web-and-app-data-in-a-single-view/

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6 thoughts on “The beauty of the free-to-use concept, or is it?”

  1. Hey!! I really enjoyed reading this article. I think it was very interesting and made me look at the topic from different perspective. I enjoyed the cite -“Google Users – You’re The Product Not The Customer” essentially – I think it makes you realise how different the business model of digital goods is from the business model of traditional goods. I think an important question after this article is to what extent Google is tracking us and our data? And should we be afraid about long term consequences of that data access?
    I am really interested what you think about it

  2. I am extremely happy I can use Google. Honestly, I wouldn’t know at this point how I would do some things (e.g. finding the route, doing school projects, emailing, looking up prices, storing documents and photos) without Google and like you said what should we otherwise use? The idea that Google has an extremely amount of data on me is a bit scary. I almost never accept cookies on websites anymore, but I know that is only a small way data is collected. For now it is fine that they have this data, as long as they just use it for targeted adversing I will live. What worries me is what could happen in the future when they find ways to use this data in my disadvantage. So, depending on the price I might consider paying for it to take away my worry. However I think the price would be extremely high as this data on me is worth a lot at this point.

  3. Good discussion article Willem-Jelle, you decided to only, cover the negative aspects of your data being sold e.g. you data being sold and you being tracked. However in some other light you could consider using google as a win-win as the advertising you get is catered to you and can lower your searching time for certain products and help you discover new products that interest you

  4. Thanks for your words, Bartosz! That is indeed a great follow-up question on my blog. I think, however, it is quite hard to fully identify the data that Google has on you, apart from the exports you can get from them. Have you ever ran an export of the data that Google allows you to get?

  5. Fair point, Christine! What are you most frightened on at what could happen with your data against you? I, myself, think paying for native anti tracking is a difficult thing to put a price on. Everyone has a different willingness to pay for this. However, pay-to-prevent (just invented this word) solutions are coming in slowly. Think of Youtube Premium, where you don’t get advertisements at all. Thanks for your reaction!

  6. Thanks for your reaction, Dorus! Interesting point there! I see you wrote a blog on this particular matter. Could you see yourself paying for not getting tracked anymore? Or do you actually value those targeted advertisements?

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