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"Free accounts" is misleading. Google is not giving anything away for free. They scan the emails and obtain valuable information regarding the user preferences

"Free accounts" is misleading. Google is not giving anything away for free. They scan the emails and obtain valuable information regarding the user preferences and conversation, which later they use to tune their ads. We are the product. And, in the case of people like the banned professor, traffic to Google sites (e.g. blog) is multiplied. We make it sound like Google is gifting us with free email. They're not.

mirimir 9y ago
That's a fair point. But what would we call them, then? Edit: We call them "non-paid" obviously.
newscracker 9y ago
> They scan the emails and obtain valuable information regarding the user preferences and conversation, which later they use to tune their ads. We are the product. At least for the "free" Gmail, as of two months ago (June 2017) Google promised to no longer scan email content. That change is coming in the near future. [1] [1]: https://www.blog.google/products/gmail/g-suite-gains-traction-in-the-enterprise-g-suites-gmail-and-consumer-gmail-to-more-closely-align/ https://www.blog.google/products/gmail/g-suite-gains-tractio...