I think the argument that they're trying to lick you into their ecosystem is a bit dishonest. I don't recall FB doing much for lock-in. They basically have onl

I think the argument that they're trying to lick you into their ecosystem is a bit dishonest. I don't recall FB doing much for lock-in. They basically have only three products, and two of them are just as integrated with things like Twitter as with FB (modulo inline picture expansion of Instagram, which is Twitter's doing) Google uses your emails to put reminders into your Google Calendar. Uses your Google Calendar to add context to Maps. The simple reading is just that they had an opportunity to integrate their products. In theory they could offer this integration with other mail providers or calendars. In practice , do you think MSFT or Yahoo are going to let Google check your emails? Probably not. Not that Google hasnt done a couple uncompetitive things (Chrome advertising when using FF is a bit much). But the reality is that Google has access to data that can make better usability. And it's kinda hard to do with third party services that are all also building Google-like ecosystems too. But I have a bunch of third party calendars in Google calendar. I email other people with my Gmail account. I can install Firefox on my Android phone. I can Google search through DDG.