Does everyone hate Google now? | Google's story over the last two decades has been a tale as old as time: enshittification for growth

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-a-divided-america-one-thing-now-unites-hating-google/

Google’s story over the last two decades has been a tale as old as time: enshittification for growth. The once-beloved startup—with its unofficial “Don’t Be Evil” motto—has instead become a major Internet monopolist, as a federal judge ruled on Monday, dominating the market for online search. Google is also well-known for its data-harvesting practices, for constantly killing off products, and for facilitating the rise of brain-cell-destroying YouTubers who make me Fear for Today’s Youth. (Maybe that last one is just me?)

Google’s rapid rise from “scrappy search engine with doodles” to “dystopic mega-corporation” has been remarkable in many ways, especially when you consider just how much goodwill the company squandered so quickly. Along the way, though, Google has achieved one unexpected result: In a divided America, it offers just about everyone something to hate.

Here are just a few of the players hating Google today.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Hopefully DeGoogleing will go a bit like the cable “Cord Cutters” did in terms of headlines over time:

Is cutting cable feasible?

Some are are finding solutions to lower their cable bills.

Industry denies cord cutters are impacting profit.

Providers cling to sports broadcasts as a way to short-circut cord cutters.

Are young people the “never-cable” generation?

Here’s where to watch the Olympics online.

Of course, streaming is worse than cable now… so lets learn from that.
source
- Donjuanme@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  “streaming is worse than cable now” is it though?
  
  I stream for weeks on end without a single ad, watching only what I want. I go to an older person’s house and I hear the same friggin commercial jingles, the same canned studio laughter, and shows that are designed for the stupidest common denominator.
  
  I grew up in the era of Saturday morning cartoons. My brain was liquidified on cereal commercials. I won’t allow cable into my house under any circumstances.
  
  source
  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    I stream for weeks on end without a single ad
    
    But that’s now changing. The bottom tiers of many (most?) streaming apps include ads, and it’s not a stretch to think that they’ll include ads on the higher tiers eventually, or just increase prices until people downgrade to ad-supported tiers. Yeah, you can use an ad-blocker, but you could also use a DVR for cable that also filters out ads.
    
    I’m bailing on both and just buying physical media again. I hope that doesn’t die out, but I’m done with paying for subscriptions. We don’t watch a ton, so I’m probably going to save money this way.
    
    I wish we had a streaming equivalent of a DVR, then I might actually want streaming again.
    
    source
  - David_Eight@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    “streaming is worse than cable now” Ironically, pirating has never been easier lol
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - TeoTwawki@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Its worse in that to see the content Inwant I neee MULTIPLE subscriptions that add up to more than cables cost …or I can sail the high seas once more. I’ve cancellled everything except amazon because I save enough on shipping to justify it (mostly heavy items)
    
    source
Modva@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
We demand infinite growth. Why? Because shareholders want to buy shares and sell them later for more.

Do anything it takes to make that transaction happen, cut people’s jobs en masse, whatever.

Forever.

source
- profdc9@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Stock holders demand infinite growth. If the management doesn’t make money, they put in place new management. A company is only worth the value of the next stock buyback or dividend. It’s baked into the structure of corporations, especially publicly-owned corporations.
  
  source
  - PhAzE@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Stock holders can sue the company if there’s a loss, too. That shouldn’t be a thing, but here we are.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - AutomaticUpdates@monero.town ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    *Capitalism demands infinite growth. Because the goal in capitalism first and foremost isn’t to provide a good product or to uphold morals, but to make money.
    
    source
- Potatisen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  WE don’t demand it.
  
  source
  - jerkface@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    By context “we” refers to google.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Infinite growth in a closed and limited system.
  
  I see absolutely nothing wrong with this.
  
  source
Freefall@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
They took down the Don’t Be Evil sign.

source
- blizzardpiano@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Reminds me of a cannibal in the Deltora series who has the sign “LIVE NO EVIL”, when it’s actually “LIVE ON EVIL” but mirrored.
  
  source
- mojofrododojo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  ~~Don’t ~~Be Evil
  
  faster just to x through the problematic bits.
  
  source
  - Freefall@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That is more Elon’s thing 🤣
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Despite the convenience of some of its tools, the hardcore tech set increasingly prefers tech companies like Signal or even Apple, which is currently running expensive TV ads about how other browsers (read: Google’s Chrome) spy on you.

One important thing to be mentioned is that, while Apple is correct when highlighting that Chrome is a privacy nightmare, Apple and Google are cut from the same cloth and they’re both user-hostile when it comes to privacy, monopoly enforcement, censorship, etc. Both deserve the hate that they get. (Alongside Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft.)

source
dumpsterlid@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
i worked for cognizant, a contractor for google maps at the Bothell office. I worked for a contractor that Google would fire every 5 years, contract it to another company and change the sign on the office building they owned.

Google is a trash compant with absolutely zero idea how to move forward into the future, the company was absolutely chock full of intelligent interesting smart people but Google was so shortsighted that they forced my whole department back to the office for no good reason.

My experience after working for Google was that Google was most definitely going to collapse within the decade in terms of market power.

What a shameful, pathetic company and the management should be ashamed of how stupid and out of touch they were.

Also, completely and utterly anti-worker.

source
- namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You could also blame the idiots who had a chance to unionize but never did.
  
  If you go back 5-10 years, everyone would say, “why do we need to unionize? Working in IT is great, we don’t need to unionize!” And now see where we are today to realize how stupid of a mindset that was. I guess they don’t buy insurance for the same reason.
  
  I thought you had to be smart to work at Google, but seeing people take dumb positions like that made me realize that while they might have been brilliant engineers, they were definitely not very smart people.
  
  (I’m not holding Google blameless here by the way - fuck them hard! But Google employees had the chance and wasted it, and this is what they left behind.)
  
  source
  - dumpsterlid@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The cognizant google employees I worked with were actually VERY in support of unionizing, even more so than google employees themselves, it was a really interesting mix of people and they didn’t have their heads up their asses like normal techbro google employees who are used to everything working out and handwaving away systematic concerns.
    
    Multiple attempts over the years had been made to unionize, but Google always crushed them with an iron fist.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- FiskFisk33@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  On the search side, i’m really impressed with kagi. They are a paid service, but you can try them out for free no strings attached.
  
  source
mlg@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
killedbygoogle.com

source
- RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Image
  
  Image
  
  source
brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
How about “monopolizing the ad industry, going all in on manipulative engagement farming, and making billions off of destroying the internet and possibly democracy”

I think the headline proves most people don’t really understand how deeply Google has embedded themselves in, and farmed, well, everyone.

source
- dojan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Google hasn’t just monopolised the ad industry, but is holding the internet itself in its clutches.
  
  They own and control one of the biggest operating systems on the market, giving them control over peoples devices. They own and control the biggest browser engine on the market, giving them control over the internet standards; they can implement whatever the heck they want and essentially force it as a web standard. They own and control the biggest search engine on the market, giving them control over what information people can see and access.
  
  For a lot of people, Google controls practically the entire internet access chain, and that should terrify anyone who cares about a free and open internet.
  
  source
  - brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    that should terrify anyone who cares about a free and open internet.
    
    We’re way past that… right? They’ve already kinda destroyed the open web and are squeezing it for money.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
For the 113th time: YES

Google stopped being cool ages ago and Chrome marked the moment they turned evil.

source
DrowningInteger@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’ve started to try and move away from Google as much as possible, which I knew would be difficult, but it’s proving to be harder than I thought.

I can’t do anything about my work stuff, because our company uses Google for email and cloud storage. I set up an account on Proton Mail for my personal email and file storage. I currently have an android phone, but I don’t like iPhones so I don’t really know what I want to do there. I switched back to Firefox after 15 years of using Chrome. I actually started using Bing search more. I’m looking into alternatives for the Chromecast that Google doesn’t seem interested in supporting anyway, which might just end up being a small PC hooked up to the TV.

I’m just so tired of Google services either being shut down or slowly getting worse and worse until they’re nearly unusable.

source
- wispy_jsp@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  On the android front, if you don’t mind using a pixel phone then Graphene OS would be worth checking out. It’s a foss non rooted alternative to base android with a focus on privacy and security. The no root requirement means a good amount of apps like banking work properly on it. It vastly expands the app permission system and removes the special privileges to Google system apps, allowing you to remove it or limit them. It also supports sandboxing of the play store and multiple profiles so you can effectively quarantine Google requiring apps.
  
  source
  - StormWalker@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    +1 for GrapheneOS on a Pixel. I use GrapheneOS on a Pixel 7 Pro. It’s just awesome. I will never go back. Camera is awesome too.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- sysop@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It’s not as hard as you’d think. github.com/tycrek/degoogle - This has everything you need. Definitely use Firefox. Check out Nextcloud for personal cloud/documents replacement etc. Definitely try a small PC hooked to your TV and look in to plex. Don’t use Google/Bing, stick with DuckDuckGo and if you need to, use !g or !b in your searched on ddg to get bing and google results. It’s fun exploring all the alternatives in the list.
  
  source
- StormWalker@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  “Brave search” seems to work good for me with Firefox. Protonmail is awesome yeah 👍🏻 There are alternatives to everything, just finding the good ones!
  
  source
- save_the_humans@leminal.space ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  degooglisons-internet.org/en/
  
  Thought this looked cool. Haven’t had the need to use it much since discovering this. Offers a lot of googles functionality that I used to use like collaborative documents, spreadsheets, and calendars.
  
  source
LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Nationalize google and turn it into a coop that is democratically controlled by worker and users. Lets us vote on their management and corporate priorities and policies.

To hell with the shareholders! They ruin everything!

source
- BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I wish there were more coops. Shareholders are almost the entire reason for the mess we find ourselves in.
  
  source
- skvlp@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  At least their crawlers should be nationalised/coop/something.
  
  source
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
everyone with common sense and the ability to pay attention has hated google for over a decade.

source
- mriormro@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Sure thing, cool guy.
  
  source
  - A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I’m not cool.
    
    Cool guys sit there and get pissy about criticism of their dearest waifu company. Like you, Mr.Cool.
    
    source
  - Welt@lazysoci.al ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    wtf?
    
    source
Etterra@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Corporations: Hmm, we seem to have saturated our market. How do we make line keep go up?

Diversify our products to cater to niche markets.

Accept the status quo and focus on making our existing customers happy while integrating feedback to improve and entice people to ditch our competitors?

Make everything worse because what are they gonna do, use Bing? LOL

Congratulate ourselves on winning capitalism, then selling our stocks to the employees so we can go enjoy our wealth and return forever.

HAHAHAHA yeah right. Time to squeeze this shit for every red cent then cash out before the stock price crashes and move in to the next victim.
source
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

On August 5, 2024, Trump asked his supporters to stop using Google.

Did not know that. Well. Stopped clock, blind squirrel, etc.

source
mesamunefire@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Whats a good google maps alternative?

Ive had some success with OSM+ but only if I supply the end point myself. Otherwise it had a really hard time getting a place like Home Depot or a local university, etc…etc…

source
- 2xsaiko@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  In terms of map data, as far as I know there’s pretty much only OSM, Google Maps and Apple Maps (which is getting a beta browser version)*.
  
  OSM map data is usually excellent, search can be very hit or miss though. You might want to try some of the apps that use OSM data like Organic Maps to see if you get better search results using that. Personally I use both Apple Maps and Organic Maps.
  
  * I also know of Mapquest but it’s lacking a lot of POIs and even ways from what I can see, at least in the two cities I’ve checked.
  
  source
  - ccdfa@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Maybe if you’re in a big city, or maybe Europe. I recently moved back to the US from Asia and found OSM data to be really bad in the small city that I come from.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- StormWalker@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I use Organic Maps. But it does not YET have traffic data. So if it’s an area with traffic jams, I use Google maps. But most of the time organic maps is great
  
  source
- skeezix@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Try the Organic Maps app
  
  source
- Tick_Dracy@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Try Magic Earth. It’s a good alternative.
  
  source
TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
All companies enshittify themselves eventually, and the fact that those that were trying to fight it within the company were still getting shit on from within and from outside the company only hastened its fall by just removing them as a deciding factor through sheer pressure. Google really isn’t as dystopian as people put it as - for one, it’s too incompetent at starting and sticking to new ventures.

As it continues falling and eventually the traditional competitors overtake it, I think it will become apparent what a truly dystopian megacorporation actually is before Google completely becomes anything remotely close to it - Microsoft would have reached that line if they had successfully been able to sneak in Recall. DuckDuckGo fell when Bing did, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Google is pretty bad right now, just not what I would call a dystopic megacorp.

source
- jj4211@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  All companies enshittify themselves eventually,
  
  This isn’t a foregone conclusion, just a number of things that are increasingly likely:
  
  When a place becomes “cool” and “rich”, then they get job applicants that are all in on “get rich quick” and as they get to call shots they are ready to destroy the core value to pulp out some profit. Particularly older companies like Intel, IBM and Microsoft have had time for that mindset to promote into the positions.
  
  Failing that, investors can rapidly corrupt existing leadership, particularly for “startups”. It might start sincere, but then when a relatively small bunch find themselves with a multi-billion dollar payday, pedal to the floor to ruin things.
  
  Additionally, any major player not in a position to be a part of the fun will make their knock-offs and market or monopoly their way to displace. Oh look, Microsoft Teams…
  
  There’s a moderately successful, but also reasonably modest company that went about 50 years without getting “enshitified”. The founder was passionate about it, kept the company private, and held in until his 80s when he finally decided he really couldn’t do it anymore. Then they went public and immediately the layoffs, price hikes, and cloudification commenced, as the flood gate of enshitification opened on his retirement.
  
  source
  - dojan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    This isn’t a foregone conclusion, just a number of things that are increasingly likely:
    
    The system incentivises it, though. I don’t like dealing in absolutes, so I am inclined to agree with you on that basis alone. However, enshittification is not a bug, it’s a feature.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I still stand by what I said and only add an addendum, all companies enshittify themselves eventually or cease to exist before it happens. In your counterexample, the problem is that the founders eventually die, and then the time comes for that company to be passed down, and then you are just proving my point. Even stores like LTT Store and GamersNexus’ will eventually enshittify themselves or cease to exist, because they will eventually have to pass ownership and even their owners will feel some remorse if they vanish it into the void instead of leaving it off for their family to inherit. If it’s a small localized family business, it can exist for longer without compromising itself because it will not receive as much pressure and the services it has to concern itself are much more limited. Enshittification is as avoidable as death.
    
    source
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
All my homies hate Google

source
hightrix@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Yes. I hate advertising companies.

source
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
for the same reason we hate apple. they put a pencil pusher with no direction other than higher stock price as ceo.

source
- yamanii@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’m glad “The Man Who Killed Google Search” blew up.
  
  source
helenslunch@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Strange, they don’t seem to hate it enough to stop using it.

source
- tabular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Sadly a lot of content is only on YouTube, and you only live once.
  
  source
  - helenslunch@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    It’s only on YouTube because people only upload it there.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Quill7513@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The lesson is never trust any corporation ever. A lot of people fell for their schtick and feel stuck now. The cohort of users on this fediverse platform are gonna trend towards more anti-corporate and more tech savvy. The best thing we can be right now is gracious towards those realizing a titch too late how fucked everything is
  
  source
- explodicle@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s the nasty thing about monopolies…
  
  source
PanArab@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Wait until you learn of their role in the apartheid and genocide in Palestine

source
- sexy_peach@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  How are they involved?
  
  source
  - PanArab@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    aljazeera.com/…/what-is-project-nimbus-and-why-ar…
    
    theintercept.com/…/google-photos-israel-gaza-faci…
    
    time.com/…/exclusive-no-tech-for-apartheid-google…
    
    I must ask though, why was it hard for you to just look it up yourself?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
NutWrench@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Google’s motto in 2003: “Don’t be evil.”

They sure let that motto slide.

source
- dojan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Well yeah, they superceded it in 2015 and eradicated it in 2018. They were doing evil before then too, of course, but I guess at that point they felt like they could just drop the mask.
  
  source
Dorkyd68@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m all about that duck duck go yo

source
mrmanager@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t use Google anymore except for Google maps in my car. :) I guess they can spy on where I’m driving. But no search history, bitches.

source
- StormWalker@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I came across “Organic Maps” and it’s really impressive. I now use them 50/50. The only real difference for me is that Google maps shows the traffic jams. So if it’s a long journey I use Google, but if I’m not in a rush and just need directions I use Organic.
  
  source
- rekorse@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Magic earth is a great alternative.
  
  source
Unlocalhost@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You either die a hero or less be long enough to become the villain.

source
OpenStars@discuss.online ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
A lot of people still don’t know.

Some people don’t even know what Reddit is.

Now, Reddit is charging Google for priority access to its posts (article - only Google and Brave will show those results in the near future).

Perhaps Google will start charging money to use it also.

source
Jepethiel@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You got that right bro. Greed breeds abuse of the customer. Mega-companies, become the worst problem the world has because of that same greed. To put it bluntly “Greed is not good” to mis-quote a 'Wall Street" movie character player by Charlie Sheen.

source
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
dOn’T bE eViL

source
yournamehere@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
LOL. a bit late. the story is: how lazy and selfrightious are people using alphabet, apple, microsoft or meta?

i feel they are to an extent of being immature. no matter if you are a majority, that doesnt make things right.

source