I realise that Google places ads in the native Gmail environment. However, when using a third party front end to embed the Google services, how does the company make money off that? When I use Thunderbird to access Gmail or the Google Calendar or when I map my Google Drive to the file explorer, how can Google profit from this kind of use?
Metadata.
It knows who you are talking to from the to and from fields, possibly the context based on the subject, if the do scan the email contents then they will know what you are interested in.
Gather that info with your search history it can sell targeted advertising.
So, it’s basically a loss leader in this scenario to feed other sevices like the ad network?
For personal Gmail yes.
Yes. About 75% of Google’s revenue is from ads. Most (all?) of their free products exist to feed the advertising business in one way or another.
They’re scanning the email contents.
and your google drive contents.
and everything else you send through their services.
That’s why I am no longer using their services like Gmail and Google Maps. I jumped tot alternatives, much recommended.
What are you using in lieu of Google Maps?
I use GoogleStreetMap for GPS, I’ve replaced Gmail with StartMail and instead of Google Calendar I use TimeTree for now. Might need to find a real privacy related calendar, anyone suggestions?
I was so confused by your first one until I clicked the link and realized you meant “OpenStreetView” instead of “GoogleStreetView” 🤣
Magic Earth is amazing
Remember: if you’re not paying for a service, you’re the product.
They harvest your data for a variety of reasons. 1) they pair your data with your broader Google profile (including search results, ad clicks, website views, etc) to better deliver targeted ads. 2) they train their AI (although that’s an indirect revenue stream, and much more recent).
Remember: if you’re paying for a service, you’re also likely the product.
Check the privacy policy. It’s about all you can do these days, and hope it doesn’t change post fact.
Remember: if you’re not paying for a service, you’re the product.
So… Tor network and Signal?
Wikipedia?
Lemmy?
(Not all free services are evil lol 😉)
None of those are business though, they are non profits
Protonmail (and other proton services) has a Free Tier, and it’s company, Proton AG, were For Profit for a long time (until recently).
Tutanota (now known as Tuta) also has a Free Tier, and is still, to this day, a For Profit company.
Bitwarden allow you to store unlimited passwords, they are a For Profit compant.
Standard Notes let you have Unlimited Notes, and was For Profit until they got bought by Proton
Notesnook also allows Unlimited Notes, and is For Profit.
Don’t forget that most people do not use external applications such as Thunderbird. You’re a blip on the radar.
Every little bit your device sends to google is being used. Your IP, mac address, email contents, cookies (now kinda phased out by fingerprinting), phone number, etc
They’re still collecting data that helps them sell ads.
I wonder what percentage of people access Gmail and Calendar through third party frontends in 2025. I would bet the number is very low.
