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Comment by gtirloni | Hacker News Reader

It puzzles me how HN is so cynic about anything that comes from Google.

Only recently Google been caught degrading UX of Firefox, capturing web standards, pushing AMP and Chrome Manifest v3, making Android less open source with every release and locking it down with SafetyNet, etc. I'm not even going to tell about all dead services, APIs, permanent account-wide bans and non-existent tech support.

Do you expect people to believe in their good will?

We can say that Google did a thing or two to break people's trust.

Cancelling Google Reader is a sure sign that Google is out to exploit people by encouraging them to take lower-carbon routes.

Imagine Google cancelling you. Like by permanently banning your every account for no reason without chance to appeal. Or better cancelling your whole company by banning Ads, Google Play or GCP account. Everything is gone in one second, poof and no one can help you unless you somehow get to HN or reddit frontpage.

Imagine having this much anxiety about accessing the tools provided by a private organization.

Honestly though, what about any of Google's behavior in the past several years should make us give them the benefit of the doubt?

The fact that it is an immense and heterogeneous organization with many different decision-makers at all levels with varying priorities and intentions. Essentializing Google as a singular agent obscures this perspective and gives no credence to those who are trying to push it in better directions from the inside.

Anything like a major PR campaign is approved at the highest levels.

EDIT: I'd also note that in the book Surveillance Capitalism, Zuboff discusses how Pokemon Go was seen in investor circles as a successful demonstration of manipulating masses of people to go to commercial spaces by luring them with imaginary characters. This sent market caps soaring. When I saw this headline, I immediately thought that this is them doing that with maps, but in a PR friendly way.

And how is any of this a new concern? This issue existed long before these new features and will continue to be a threat long after. I really don't see how this is comparable considering they could just as easily have done the same without greenwashing.

> Essentializing Google as a singular

Google themselves do this with their shared branding under the google umbrella.

Companies that want the upside of this branding need to accept the downsides too.

How are you not?

If only this cynicism was shared by the general public, the regulatory authorities etc.

It is warranted

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