> If you're paying cash for the service, though, you're well within your right to set expectations on the terms the service is provided on. And you can vote wi

> If you're paying cash for the service, though, you're well within your right to set expectations on the terms the service is provided on. And you can vote with your wallet. Once the user is being charged, the choice becomes not “should I pay?” but “whom should I pay?”. If we imagine some evil exec deciding to sell user data, once that inevitably leaks it is much easier for the users to decide to switch to another search/email provider (which would have much easier time surviving, not having to compete with free). And losing users means losing advertising appeal, so both streams of revenue would be lost simultaneously.