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I've always assumed they do this since they've recognized and surfaced flight and event information for years. I thought about switching my email to iCloud but

I've always assumed they do this since they've recognized and surfaced flight and event information for years. I thought about switching my email to iCloud but I'm afraid Apple's going to change the domain yet again. And gmail is hella reliable. Google of old might have done something cool with this info and annotated the purchases with something like "14,391 people bought this for an average of $1.08 less" or "you pay $7.44 per month more than the average Comcast customer in your area" etc.

iKevinShah 8y ago
To counter on the point of "Google of old might have done something cool with this info" This is very, VERY subjective. Even if Google did something like "you pay $7.44 per month more than the average Comcast customer in your area" there will be very similar posts detailing how 'Google reads your monthly payment data'.
- fitzroy 8y ago
  Sure, but they're already reading your monthly payment data. My point was just that Google gets and (probably) analyzes aggregate payment information but the user only gets what they already know. If Google is sucking up all of that data, they could at least give some insights to users too. Now I'm curious to know if they're using this info to analyze competitor marketshare and/or set prices for competing services.
  - lettergram 8y ago
    > Now I'm curious to know if they're using this info to analyze competitor marketshare and/or set prices for competing services. We already know they do... They'll even milk companies for money, bet against them, etc. It's clearly they should have their company broken up IMO (and I'm typically a libertarian) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18053819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18053819
macintux 8y ago
Fastmail rocks. And Apple keeps the old domains, so my me.com email works fine. I never use icloud.com.
- branweb 8y ago
  Completely agree about fastmail. Been a happy customer for a few years now. Easy to migrate from gmail too. Enjoying it all the more since the "upgrade" of gmail's web-ui. Fastmail isn't free, but I think the old adage "if you're given a really cool product for free, then the product us you" applies here. If you're ok with that, that's cool. But if you're not, there are some great options out there.
expertentipp 8y ago
> "14,391 people bought this for an average of $1.08 less" or "you pay $7.44 per month more than the average Comcast customer in your area" etc. This is not how it works. More like "we see you desperately need something because of your circumstances and we offer you only the premium price". Not explicitly of course.
propogandist 8y ago
Google is in the business of advertising. They do not stand to profit from giving you that information, unless they had an affiliate link from an advertiser that offered similar services for a lower price who'd be willing to pay X to acquire a new customer. While this level of ad targeting is not available, based on the gmails they read, they have it on your profile. Also, you can always buy your own domain name for a few dollars and take it with you anywhere, hosting with reliable email providers.
olliej 8y ago
My @mac.com account still works. But yeah perpetually changing domains is irksome.
Jerry2 8y ago
>I thought about switching my email to iCloud but I'm afraid Apple's going to change the domain yet again. My ancient @mac.com email address still works (I think it's 16 years old now). So does my girlfriend's @me.com. You're worrying about wrong things.
romed 8y ago
Your agreement with Google allows them to use your data on your behalf. The feature you suggested uses your data to benefit other people, or other people’s data to benefit you. Even when aggregated that violates the agreement.
mcintyre1994 8y ago
I wonder if they could build a service to help people switch to the cheapest options, through affiliates obviously. I've heard that's the long term business model of challenger banks which see your bills, but Google have that data too if you get bills emailed and are probably better positioned to build it if they wanted to.
derekp7 8y ago
what would be really cool is if they could add an annotation to an email job offer... something like "This offer appears to be 15% lower than what other candidates have been offered for a similar position".

iKevinShah 8y ago

To counter on the point of "Google of old might have done something cool with this info" This is very, VERY subjective. Even if Google did something like "you pay $7.44 per month more than the average Comcast customer in your area" there will be very similar posts detailing how 'Google reads your monthly payment data'.

fitzroy 8y ago
Sure, but they're already reading your monthly payment data. My point was just that Google gets and (probably) analyzes aggregate payment information but the user only gets what they already know. If Google is sucking up all of that data, they could at least give some insights to users too. Now I'm curious to know if they're using this info to analyze competitor marketshare and/or set prices for competing services.
- lettergram 8y ago
  > Now I'm curious to know if they're using this info to analyze competitor marketshare and/or set prices for competing services. We already know they do... They'll even milk companies for money, bet against them, etc. It's clearly they should have their company broken up IMO (and I'm typically a libertarian) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18053819 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18053819

macintux 8y ago

Fastmail rocks. And Apple keeps the old domains, so my me.com email works fine. I never use icloud.com.

branweb 8y ago
Completely agree about fastmail. Been a happy customer for a few years now. Easy to migrate from gmail too. Enjoying it all the more since the "upgrade" of gmail's web-ui. Fastmail isn't free, but I think the old adage "if you're given a really cool product for free, then the product us you" applies here. If you're ok with that, that's cool. But if you're not, there are some great options out there.

expertentipp 8y ago

> "14,391 people bought this for an average of $1.08 less" or "you pay $7.44 per month more than the average Comcast customer in your area" etc. This is not how it works. More like "we see you desperately need something because of your circumstances and we offer you only the premium price". Not explicitly of course.

propogandist 8y ago

Google is in the business of advertising. They do not stand to profit from giving you that information, unless they had an affiliate link from an advertiser that offered similar services for a lower price who'd be willing to pay X to acquire a new customer. While this level of ad targeting is not available, based on the gmails they read, they have it on your profile. Also, you can always buy your own domain name for a few dollars and take it with you anywhere, hosting with reliable email providers.

olliej 8y ago

My @mac.com account still works. But yeah perpetually changing domains is irksome.

Jerry2 8y ago

>I thought about switching my email to iCloud but I'm afraid Apple's going to change the domain yet again. My ancient @mac.com email address still works (I think it's 16 years old now). So does my girlfriend's @me.com. You're worrying about wrong things.

romed 8y ago

Your agreement with Google allows them to use your data on your behalf. The feature you suggested uses your data to benefit other people, or other people’s data to benefit you. Even when aggregated that violates the agreement.

mcintyre1994 8y ago

I wonder if they could build a service to help people switch to the cheapest options, through affiliates obviously. I've heard that's the long term business model of challenger banks which see your bills, but Google have that data too if you get bills emailed and are probably better positioned to build it if they wanted to.

derekp7 8y ago

what would be really cool is if they could add an annotation to an email job offer... something like "This offer appears to be 15% lower than what other candidates have been offered for a similar position".