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I'm being used to do free work for Google Does Google do [edit - adding quotes:] "free" work for you? Not sure how anyone dependent on Google's services (not y

by j_s 9y ago

I'm being used to do free work for Google Does Google do [edit - adding quotes:] "free" work for you? Not sure how anyone dependent on Google's services (not you specifically necessarily, but most in general) such as search or mail could justify this perspective.

simias 9y ago
That's a non sequitur. If you only had to fill captchas to access google services you'd have a point, but plenty of 3rd party websites completely unrelated to Google use them nowadays. I also much preferred the older text-based captchas (which google also "abused" to OCR text IIRC), I found them easier and quicker to solve and I didn't have to reach for the mouse. Fortunately 4chan at least lets you switch back to "legacy captcha".
- j_s 9y ago
  If you only had to fill captchas to access google services you'd have a point No, in that case Google is providing the service to plenty of 3rd party websites completely unrelated to Google, who basically punt and wind up saying "do this work for Google for access".
  - simias 9y ago
    Right, I'm not saying whether that's a good or a bad thing, I'm just pointing out that it doesn't make sense to say that it's fine to do "free work" for Google because they also provide other services for free. Those two things are mostly unrelated. If you use gmail but never solve captchas are you freeloading? What if I use adblock but I solve a lot of captchas, am I good? If I pay for Google's business "G suite" do I no longer have to solve captchas? If I don't use gmail or google search can I opt out of captchas?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - j_s 9y ago
      say that it's fine to do "free work" for Google because they also provide other services for free That's not what I meant; my poorly communicated point was more about how nothing is really "free" (should have included the quotes earlier!).
vosper 9y ago
Well in exchange for my dependence on their services they show me ads, and make rather a lot of money doing it.
- j_s 9y ago
  in exchange for my dependence on their services they show me ads ... plus ask you to solve captchas sometimes, right? Is there some line or reason where ads are ok but captchas aren't? Edit: With captchas the site benefits directly from Google, but ads function similarly.
  - Santosh83 9y ago
    Well, you can ignore ads, or not click on them, and get on with your work. You can't do that with captchas unless you're willing to be locked out of the page/site.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - j_s 9y ago
      A less charitable interpretation: letting non-ad-blocking others provide enough value / pay the bills makes ads ok but captchas are not ok because they level the playing field / are required. In theory, no ad revenue will eventually lock out the site too.

by j_s 9y ago

simias 9y ago

That's a non sequitur. If you only had to fill captchas to access google services you'd have a point, but plenty of 3rd party websites completely unrelated to Google use them nowadays. I also much preferred the older text-based captchas (which google also "abused" to OCR text IIRC), I found them easier and quicker to solve and I didn't have to reach for the mouse. Fortunately 4chan at least lets you switch back to "legacy captcha".

j_s 9y ago
If you only had to fill captchas to access google services you'd have a point No, in that case Google is providing the service to plenty of 3rd party websites completely unrelated to Google, who basically punt and wind up saying "do this work for Google for access".
- simias 9y ago
  Right, I'm not saying whether that's a good or a bad thing, I'm just pointing out that it doesn't make sense to say that it's fine to do "free work" for Google because they also provide other services for free. Those two things are mostly unrelated. If you use gmail but never solve captchas are you freeloading? What if I use adblock but I solve a lot of captchas, am I good? If I pay for Google's business "G suite" do I no longer have to solve captchas? If I don't use gmail or google search can I opt out of captchas?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - j_s 9y ago
    say that it's fine to do "free work" for Google because they also provide other services for free That's not what I meant; my poorly communicated point was more about how nothing is really "free" (should have included the quotes earlier!).

vosper 9y ago

Well in exchange for my dependence on their services they show me ads, and make rather a lot of money doing it.

j_s 9y ago
in exchange for my dependence on their services they show me ads ... plus ask you to solve captchas sometimes, right? Is there some line or reason where ads are ok but captchas aren't? Edit: With captchas the site benefits directly from Google, but ads function similarly.
- Santosh83 9y ago
  Well, you can ignore ads, or not click on them, and get on with your work. You can't do that with captchas unless you're willing to be locked out of the page/site.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - j_s 9y ago
    A less charitable interpretation: letting non-ad-blocking others provide enough value / pay the bills makes ads ok but captchas are not ok because they level the playing field / are required. In theory, no ad revenue will eventually lock out the site too.