this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Yeah, but the whole point of offering free services was just a ploy to crush competition with shorter runways to profit. Google could just sustain "free"services longer than their competitors could remain solvent.
Now that they've run most of their competitors into the ground, and now that people and businesses have become dependent on these services. They can bank off advertising and monetizing services with subscriptions.
Google business accounts used to be free, now you have to pay 9 bucks a month per employee, and you are subjected to even more advertising. Neither advertising nor subscriptions are going anywhere, especially now that subscription plans are so normalized.
That might have been the point. It’s also saved me countless hours of my life being able to navigate anywhere at any time with step by step instructions on how to get there.
There was a lot of value produced for a lot of people by google maps so far
Right.... But people don't get upset about monopolies because they don't create value. They get upset because they eliminate competition and choice.