Tag: google is evil

Google’s breaking their social contract

I’d say I started noticing a change in the keyword stats reported on my websites about six months or so ago.  Instead of seeing all of the keywords and search terms people used to arrive at my websites, most of the search terms were showing up as “Unknown search terms” in my WordPress Jetpack stats plugin and “(not provided)” in Google Analytics.

Apparently this is all due to a number of changes with Google.  As Google pushes more people to be logged in or stay logged in to their Google, Gmail, or Google plus accounts, the more their searches will be done over SSL.  This has the “side effect” of making their searches opaque to website owners.  However, that same data is of course available to Google themselves.  I say “side effect” because I’m not so sure this is unintended, rather than one of their actual goals.

Why then do I accuse Google of breaking their social contract?  Here I am, an owner of multiple domains who has been running Google Analytics tracking bugs in all of my sites since their various inceptions.  The entire point of doing so is that I might be able to better understand the search terms and patterns of people coming to my sites, with an eye towards improving traffic.  In exchange literally allowing Google to insert code inside my websites, they were supposed to help with these insights.  Insights they are no longer providing.

I’m not so naive as to think Google ever promised or contracted to provide this information to me.  I’ve never read their Terms of Service and never plan to.  When every piece of software includes click-shrink-wrapped terms of service, it’s impossible read, comprehend, or provide knowing consent to these things.  All I can go on here is that I’ve continued to let Google inside my websites – and they’re not giving me the very thing I had been lead to believe would be provided in exchange.

That said, Google Webmaster Tools is still pretty useful.

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Maybe Google is Evil after all

Evil monkey from the movie about the evil monkey that smiles awkwardly
Evil monkey from the movie about the evil monkey that smiles awkwardly

Dear Google,

You’re over-reaching.  A year ago, I would have defended your name against accusations of evil-ness. 1  Today, is a different story.

Google, you’re in my work computer, my laptop, and my phone.  You already know my every move – and yet you’re always asking for more.  You have my credit card, you see my work e-mails, personal e-mails, cell phone calls, where I live, my wifi router, IP address, and even the IP address and physical location of anywhere I log in with a Google service.  I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure you know my race, gender, exact birthday, social security number, name of my immediate family, and have a complete list of friends. 2

You’re like a needy creepy co-worker who just shows up at parties.  Parties where everyone made a lot of effort to not invite you to.  For a variety of reasons I live a double3 online life, the likes of which Don Draper would appreciate.  This online life does not intersect with the other online life and that online life tangentially intersects my real life.

Four years ago I signed up for a Google account – which still has e-mails in it.  Then Youtube insisted I log in with a Google account, so on a whim I used this four-year-old account.  And Google asked for my birthday. 4  On yet another whim5 I used the birthday of a website of mine – since that’s the reason I was logging into Youtube.  Since that website is only four years old, Google shut down that account as swift as can be.  If I want to unsuspend the account I’ll have to (a) give Google a credit card they can charge and use to verify my birthday (b) send, e-mail, fax, or mail a copy of some government ID with my birthday on it.

No, Google.  I will not do this.  Burn the account.  Destroy it and all the e-mails.  Google, you certainly have a way of reminding me that the things I use are not mine – they’re yours.  Let’s say I decide to change our relationship?  What does that mean?

Both of my jobs use Google to support their mail.  So, that’s out.  Otherwise, I’ve got four Google e-mail accounts.  Could I do without them?  Yeah, I really could.  What about Google analytics?  I like it, but I don’t live and die by them.  Most of my sites are WordPress now, so I could just use WordPress’s JetPack/stats plugin instead.  Adsense?  I make so little off of Adsense I could give a crap.  Google+?  Don’t make me laugh.  Google, for the moment you’re my default search engine, but you’ve made that creepy too.  There’s no reason I couldn’t switch to something else.

After twelve years, I’m finally had enough.  I think I’m ready to start cutting the cord.  I should nuke all of these worthless Google accounts.  What the hell do I need this kind of grief for?

Sincerely,

MakerBlock

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  1. Photo Credit: Jason Scragz via Compfight [↩]
  2. Then again, how long could such a list be? [↩]
  3. Triple even! [↩]
  4. WHY GOOGLE?! [↩]
  5. Two in one day?! [↩]