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Google users are not (in most cases) their customers but a product Google sells to their actual customers. Google long term interest is to increase the margin

Google users are not (in most cases) their customers but a product Google sells to their actual customers. Google long term interest is to increase the margin of their product by increasing their dominance in multiple markets over multiple tiers. If they do this by using their monopolistic power then they are in violation of the law even when by doing that they provide a service that some of their users see usable.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> Google users are not (in most cases) their customers but a product Google sells to their actual customers. No, Google users are suppliers of a product (ad views) that Google sells to their customers. But they are suppliers that are paid via in-kind exchange (with Google services) rather than cash, which is exactly equivalent to being customers of Google services that pay with in-kind exchange rather than cash. So, in a very real sense, those users are customers.
- eveningcoffee 9y ago
  Are chickens in the farm also customers?
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Are chickens in the farm also customers? Chickens in a farm aren't situated similarly, with respect to the farm, as users are with respect to Google services. Chickens can't freely choose a different farm, or to use no farm at all.
    - eveningcoffee 9y ago
      So if chickens could choose a farm, they would become customers? In addition - open air held chickens could run away but they choose not to.
      - vinceguidry 9y ago
        Do Google users get slaughtered? I mean, that is why it's undesirable to be a chicken in a chicken farm, right? If it weren't for that, then choosing the farm you are on would be quite the desirable ability. What if all that happened on chicken farms was one of their feathers got plucked once in awhile?
        eveningcoffee 9y ago
        I was considering the kind of farm that produces eggs, so being slaughtered was not in the picture. So the question is - what are the sufficient conditions for a chicken to be raised to the customer status from the equipment status?
  - andybak 9y ago
    Funny but not profound.
    - eveningcoffee 9y ago
      Analogy is actually much stronger we like to admit. Even if chickens would have choice, all they can choose from for their actual survival is another chicken farm. Over time they have downgraded their ability to survive without support of the chicken farm. Even if they had some money to pay for the entrance into the chicken farm then collecting their eggs would be much more lucrative business.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Google users are not (in most cases) their customers but a product Google sells to their actual customers. No, Google users are suppliers of a product (ad views) that Google sells to their customers. But they are suppliers that are paid via in-kind exchange (with Google services) rather than cash, which is exactly equivalent to being customers of Google services that pay with in-kind exchange rather than cash. So, in a very real sense, those users are customers.

eveningcoffee 9y ago
Are chickens in the farm also customers?
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Are chickens in the farm also customers? Chickens in a farm aren't situated similarly, with respect to the farm, as users are with respect to Google services. Chickens can't freely choose a different farm, or to use no farm at all.
  - eveningcoffee 9y ago
    So if chickens could choose a farm, they would become customers? In addition - open air held chickens could run away but they choose not to.
    - vinceguidry 9y ago
      Do Google users get slaughtered? I mean, that is why it's undesirable to be a chicken in a chicken farm, right? If it weren't for that, then choosing the farm you are on would be quite the desirable ability. What if all that happened on chicken farms was one of their feathers got plucked once in awhile?
      - eveningcoffee 9y ago
        I was considering the kind of farm that produces eggs, so being slaughtered was not in the picture. So the question is - what are the sufficient conditions for a chicken to be raised to the customer status from the equipment status?
- andybak 9y ago
  Funny but not profound.
  - eveningcoffee 9y ago
    Analogy is actually much stronger we like to admit. Even if chickens would have choice, all they can choose from for their actual survival is another chicken farm. Over time they have downgraded their ability to survive without support of the chicken farm. Even if they had some money to pay for the entrance into the chicken farm then collecting their eggs would be much more lucrative business.