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Articles like these (which can generally be grouped under the "what the hell is Google doing with my account and my data, and why can't I reach out to a human t

Articles like these (which can generally be grouped under the "what the hell is Google doing with my account and my data, and why can't I reach out to a human to get out of this Kafkaesque nightmare?") are popping on HN on a daily basis. I've previously been reported for commenting on a previous article that Google is a faceless company that produces shitty products and it doesn't actually doesn't give a shit of user experience, negative feedback nor deleting/locking accounts (and, often, years of work) for no clear reasons. Somebody responded "on HN we often hear only one side of the story (people getting a negative experience with Google) and not Google's side". So, since many Google employees are also here on HN, I ask you folks: do you have any words to say in defense of these crappy policies? If yes, then I'm happy to change my mind about Google, and eat back all the countless offenses I've thrown at the company over the years if convinced by enough plausible arguments. If no Google employees can come here (or, even better, directly reach out to those impacted by their bad decisions) and defend their policies, then I abide to my words: Google is a shitty company that produces shitty products, it is proud of being a faceless company that doesn't care about supporting users (even though it makes a lot of money out of their data), it makes horrible business decisions, and it leaves people in the dark when locked out of their accounts. Such companies, in a healthy market with enough competition, deserve to rot and fail and be mourned by nobody.

anonuser123456 4y ago
I think your commentary is unfair; they make great business decisions. They realize that the benefit of fucking over a few users here and there is outweighed by the cost of helping them. And people that matter have a back channel via employees or account reps to clear things up.
- blacklight 4y ago
  So in order to get a chance to be heard either you need a backdoor to a Google employee, or you need to be on a business account. Therefore, unless you fall into one of these categories, you probably shouldn't use Google products - or, even worse, rely on it for sensitive things such as your emails, your photos or your work documents.
n1c00o 4y ago
I would assume that it is mostly Google engineers on the site, and they do not have any link with these policies nor provide any information (either legal clause or simply that they don't know). Not to play the devil's advocate but Google is still a great research company, helping the open-source community and the tech industry.
donalhunt 4y ago
Not a Google employee (any more) but familiar with the culture from past experience. The mindset is that the company's costs must scale non-linearly against revenue for the company to survive. As a result, engineering solutions that require zero humans are preferred over hiring humans. Sometimes humans are acceptable in the short-term (usually if it results in more revenue). Why do employees allow company leadership to allow this to happen? Internally, I think stuff like this does get raised and actions are taken to address the "bugs". But I think there is also an attitude that Google is not going to change course because they believe this is a better approach in the long run. "What's a few inconvenienced users when you can solve problems for a billion+ people??" From a business perspective, I can understand it. From a human perspective it sucks.

anonuser123456 4y ago

I think your commentary is unfair; they make great business decisions. They realize that the benefit of fucking over a few users here and there is outweighed by the cost of helping them. And people that matter have a back channel via employees or account reps to clear things up.

blacklight 4y ago
So in order to get a chance to be heard either you need a backdoor to a Google employee, or you need to be on a business account. Therefore, unless you fall into one of these categories, you probably shouldn't use Google products - or, even worse, rely on it for sensitive things such as your emails, your photos or your work documents.

n1c00o 4y ago

I would assume that it is mostly Google engineers on the site, and they do not have any link with these policies nor provide any information (either legal clause or simply that they don't know). Not to play the devil's advocate but Google is still a great research company, helping the open-source community and the tech industry.

donalhunt 4y ago

Not a Google employee (any more) but familiar with the culture from past experience. The mindset is that the company's costs must scale non-linearly against revenue for the company to survive. As a result, engineering solutions that require zero humans are preferred over hiring humans. Sometimes humans are acceptable in the short-term (usually if it results in more revenue). Why do employees allow company leadership to allow this to happen? Internally, I think stuff like this does get raised and actions are taken to address the "bugs". But I think there is also an attitude that Google is not going to change course because they believe this is a better approach in the long run. "What's a few inconvenienced users when you can solve problems for a billion+ people??" From a business perspective, I can understand it. From a human perspective it sucks.