> what kind of a commitment[1] could they make that makes me believe that me paying them would mean they stop treating me as a product and as a customer instead

> what kind of a commitment[1] could they make that makes me believe that me paying them would mean they stop treating me as a product and as a customer instead? I'm not sure they could make a credible commitment to that at this point. I'm not sure there is any viable way for them to transition, at scale, from their current business model to one where they just charge users directly for services those users want. But the latter business model is still there, waiting, and sooner or later I think someone will find a way to use it to take Google's market.