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It occurs to me that maybe product/customer is a false dichotomy. Isn't it possible that users are customers of google's search results and products for google'
by seizethecheese 13y ago
It occurs to me that maybe product/customer is a false dichotomy. Isn't it possible that users are customers of google's search results and products for google's advertisers at the same time?
Only when you imagine that a company can only have one product, does this dichotomy make sense. Google operates a system in which there are multiple products and customers. One could even arguably say that advertisers are the product in the sense that they provide users with patronage for their free searches.
- cam_l 13y agoMost sensible response here. Google created a win-win relationship for advertisers and consumers where the consumer / seller relationships run in both directions.. with themselves in between. As long as they maintain a level of impartiality in the relationship and do not seek to weight their exploitation in either direction, I for one am fine with the arrangement. the second they do, of course, we are all fucked.