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No. Google is free to its users, but the users are the product. The customers -- the advertisers -- pay dearly.

• narrowrail 10y ago
  'No cost' is probably a better phrase here. Especially because the word 'free' can mean: 1) no immediate monetary cost ($) 2)or shorthand for freedom, as in related to liberty. However, "Generally, liberty is distinctly differentiated from freedom in that freedom is primarily, if not exclusively, the ability to do as one wills and what one has the power to do; whereas liberty concerns the absence of arbitrary restraints and takes into account the rights of all involved. As such, the exercise of liberty is subject to capability and limited by the rights of others."
• bedhead 10y ago
  That is not how the FTC sees it.
  • beagle3 10y ago
    What definition does the FTC use? The IRS doesn't consider "time" or "privacy" a payment; if they did, you would have to report your internet browsing on your tax return because barter.
    • bedhead 10y ago
      The FTC tends to see consumers...people.