Apple's Customers Are You, Google's Customers Are Advertisers

[MacRumors]

Old school Apple-fan Thomas Brand has used Apple's cloud services -- iTools, then .Mac, then MobileMe, and soon iCloud -- for nearly 10 years. He says the most important part of the service was the identity that came with having an @Mac.com email address -- a way to differentiate from the @hotmail.com and @yahoo.com email accounts of the world.

Brand points out that even though there were free alternatives to MobileMe, "the big difference between MobileMe and the free competition is the respect a paying customer is provided."

Google's users are never their customers. Google's customers are advertisers. When you trust your online identity to Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! you are trusting their customers, the advertisers, stay interested in you. I would rather pay for trust, then base my online identity on the profitability of click-through ads.

MobileMe is becoming a free service once again, but Apple customer's will continue to be its users. iCloud the replacement for MobileMe is going to remain exclusive to users of Apple's products. Apple is positioning iCloud as a feature that comes with its hardware, the price of which secures iCloud's revenue model, and its immediate future. Nothing is certain in web services, but at least with iCloud's model of syncing you control the data locally on your own machine at all times. If there is a lesson in why I pay for MobileMe it is to purchase what you feel is valuable but control what you value most. I hope Apple continues to offer online services that allow me to do just that.

iCloud isn't exactly free -- the price is just built into the products that you're already buying.

In its Q3 earnings call, Apple revealed that it was going to defer revenue from iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Mac purchases to cover the cost of access to iCloud. Apple has determined that the value of iCloud access is $16 for iPhone and iPad purchases, $11 for iPod Touch, and $22 for Mac (though that includes possible feature additions to Lion as well) and will recognize that value over two years to cover its costs.

Article Link: Apple's Customers Are You, Google's Customers Are Advertisers

 

[macnisse]

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Interesting viewpoint!

 

[jrlcopy]

Brand points out that even though there were free alternatives to MobileMe, "the big difference between MobileMe and the free competition is the respect a paying customer is provided."

Not trying to bash, but this is the only way this will come across... Apple respects the paying customer by providing the most downtime out of all the services.

 

[fishmoose]

I concur, I don't use Google products for that very reason. I much prefer to pay for everything I use, because then you do, indeed, know the company have got what they wanted from you.

 

[JTToft]

Agreed. I just don't trust Google. Partly because of Thomas Brand's points, but mostly because of their record of literally not giving a **** about their customers' privacy.

 

[Jerome Morrow]

Not trying to bash, but this is the only way this will come across... Apple respects the paying customer by providing the most downtime out of all the services.

Better downtime than no privacy.

 

[Apple OC]

it will be interesting to see what Google+ turns into ... I predict smarter spam

 

[dscuber9000]

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it will be interesting to see what Google+ turns into ... I predict smarter spam

If it turns into anything, it will be the same damn thing as Facebook.

 

[Cleve]

iAds?

Um, anyone remember iAds?

Guess that is off the table now/

 

[justgeig]

I am a LONG time Google user but fully plan on switching my calendars, my docs, and my contacts over to iCloud. It seems like it will just be so integrated that it won't require much user input. I'm doing all of the same things with Google's calendar and contacts that iCloud will provide but setting it up to sync across devices was a nightmare and when something goes wrong, remembering how to set it up again is never easy. Even just adding a new device to the mix is too involved. Enter iCloud. Just put in my apple id and voila! It's all there. sweeeet.

 

[qtx43]

'"Google's customers are advertisers" The only thing that surprises me is that there are still people who don't believe this. Assuming you're paying attention to the subject.

 

[SockRolid]

iCloud = Value add for Apple products

... iCloud isn't exactly free -- the price is just built into the products that you're already buying. ...

So you might as well use iCloud to get your money's worth. Or, you could look at it this way: iCloud allows you to seamlessly access most of your important daily-use data across all your devices. To me that's a value-add for the Apple products I use daily. (And I look forward to not paying for MobileMe.)

 

[*LTD*]

Google's goal is $ from ads.

Apple's goal is $ from creating the best possible user experience.

 

[kdarling]

Google's users are never their customers. Google's customers are advertisers. When you trust your online identity to Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! you are trusting their customers, the advertisers, stay interested in you.

So much handwaving.

Neither Google nor Apple sell any of our personal info directly to advertisers. That would instantly negate its value.

Instead, they both sell advertisers ad space in their apps or websites. That space is anonymously filled with ads that are targeted at us, according to the info either company has collected.

For instance, Apple is known to sell ads based on our gender, age, income, media and app preferences... even our assumed sexual orientation derived from our iTunes purchases.

I would rather pay for trust, then base my online identity on the profitability of click-through ads.

Apple already has all our personal info from iTunes and our credit cards.

Ads have absolutely nothing to do with that data collection. It's happening anyway.

Paying to not see ads is a totally different thing. Many of us are willing to pay for that privilege.

 

[TMar]

I'm so tired of the online privacy/identity bandwagon people have been on for years. It right up there 'green' thing that is overdone. It doesn't matter if Google tells people I'm a thirty something males that enjoys playing golf and basketball and likes cheez-it's. If you don't want your life to be an open book, don't put it on the internet. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter, some people can get over their ego's because their 'online identity' isn't that interesting and most people would care less.

 

[nagromme]

Absolutely. Apple makes their money by creating a great user experience for you. Directly. THAT is what they are selling, and YOU are the one they need to please!

With Google, almost 100% of their revenue comes from ads, so you are the thing BEING sold. The advertisers are the ones Google needs to please directly, and pleasing you is needed only indirectly. In fact, they don’t really need to “please” you: they need to scare you off the competition with misleading buzzwords like “open” and “closed,” and they need to give you something that is a) better then you’ve used before, if you never used Apple, and b) “good enough” that you settle for it.

The two ways Google sells YOU as a product:

1. Your time and attention. Every moment you spend reading ads to find the useful content buried in the chaos, that’s your time for sale. Every time you click an ad, that’s your time for sale.

2. Your personal details, correlated with as many other services as possible. Your name, your location, your age, your online habits, all your demographics. Of course, these should be privacy-protected, and sometimes they are (and sometimes they’re shared because you agreed to that in the fine print). But your details ARE still the product being sold: the data is anonymized and aggregated, but it makes Google ads worth a ton more to advertisers.

I’m not sure iTools/.Mac/MobileMe is the most shining example of Apple’s work But at least Apple’s motivation was providing a good user experience, not moving ads or gathering personal details to share with advertisers. And iCloud is another beast entirely....

I'm so tired of the online privacy/identity bandwagon people have been on for years. It right up there 'green' thing that is overdone. It doesn't matter if Google tells people I'm a thirty something males that enjoys playing golf and basketball and likes cheez-it's. If you don't want your life to be an open book, don't put it on the internet. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter, some people can get over their ego's because their 'online identity' isn't that interesting and most people would care less.

It doesn’t matter... until it does!

What DOES matter already (even if you trust that your info isn’t being combined with other sources to add up to much more) is that you are NOT the customer Google needs to please. You are a product that Google needs to maintain in good condition

 

[Morod]

Listen, Apple:

I will pay you, good money, to be able to use iCloud with Snow Leopard, just as I do now with MobileMe.
I do not want Lion, but I do want MobileMe/iCloud.
Thank you,
Morod

 

[TMar]

It doesn’t matter... until it does!

What DOES matter already (even if you trust that your info isn’t being combined with other sources to add up to much more) is that you are NOT the customer Google needs to please. You are a product that Google needs to maintain in good condition

So it doesn't matter until it does, so when does it? Being vague isn't making a point. I know I'm not a Google customer since I don't purchase anything from them, I'm a Google user. It doesn't matter that they COULD be combined with other sources, again being vague on your conspiracies doesn't prove a point.

Google has billion's in infrastructure yet offer services for free. I'm not jump on the conspiracy bandwagon because they need to make a buck to cover operating costs. I don't care that there MIGHT be some list on some server of websites I visit, with or without my personal information attached. I don't care the Google might share that information with third parties either partially or in full. I don't care that these third parties COULD potentially combine this information with more radially available on the internet to have a good idea about my habits. I have nothing to hide.

 

[nagromme]

So it doesn't matter until it does, so when does it? Being vague isn't making a point. I know I'm not a Google customer since I don't purchase anything from them, I'm a Google user. It doesn't matter that they COULD be combined with other sources, again being vague on your conspiracies doesn't prove a point.

I’m not trying to prove a point about how your private data can (and does) fall into the wrong hands. There’s no conspiracy needed to show that Google is selling you as a product. We’re talking about two different things here. It’s Google’s entire business model, publicly. Not a conspiracy.

As for “when it matters,” it matters when a stalker finds you on a service you didn’t know had enough info to do so, or when your government finds out you you’ve been protesting (not, not the US necessarily but lots of places), or when someone disreputable spams you, or when a hacker gets your phone number or SSN because twenty companies have it that you never heard of. Very common sense things. I don’t lose sleep over them, but they’re not nothing.

You have to care about what COULD happen, not what already has. Otherwise, why have fire extinguishers, or passwords, or have an umbrella in your car? Negative possibilities ARE worthy of discussion. It’s how they can be combatted.

But the privacy risks are irrelevant to my main point: that Google isn’t out to serve you. (Except maybe in the “To Serve Man” sense ) They ARE selling you, whether you think that’s harmful to you or not. And I like that Apple is, instead, selling a powerful, easy, great experience.

 

[DavidLeblond]

I think this is less of a privacy issue and more of a customer service issue. If you are an Apple user you have multiple means of getting support for technical issues, including going into an Apple store and talking to someone face to face. With Google? It's like shouting into the ether.

Here's a good customer service story that has been heavily making its rounds lately:

http://consumerist.com/2011/07/google-deletes-last-7-years-of-users-digital-life-shrugs.html

 

[nutjob]

Truly, this is Apple Fanboy drivel. Google has more reason to keep its users happy other than revenue. If you had any idea how they treat their typical (small) advertiser, you'd understand how much BS this is. Finally, all of the above are companies, they will screw you if they need to. Google hosts my email (for free), it's a pretty simple matter to change to someone else if they start screwing, since I host under my own domain. If you have a .mac address you are screwed if Apple doesn't provide you with decent service.

 

[cyberthom]

isn't MobileMe actually the worst example possible? bye bye idisk - dropbox users won't have this problem.. sorry but seems like a completely blind argumentation..

 

[elppa]

Um, anyone remember iAds?

Guess that is off the table now/

http://oo.apple.com/

 

[TMar]

I’m not trying to prove a point about how your private data can (and does) fall into the wrong hands. There’s no conspiracy needed to show that Google is selling you as a product. We’re talking about two different things here. It’s Google’s entire business model, publicly. Not a conspiracy.

Wrong hands? Again trying to make it sound more devious then it is. Google sells ad space, it's the NASCAR of the internet. Do they anomalously track sites you visit? Maybe. Same way cable companies have tracked what you watch for years, no on complains about that. Stores track tends on purchases and what sells, no one complains.

 

[nagromme]

Truly, this is Apple Fanboy drivel. Google has more reason to keep its users happy other than revenue. If you had any idea how they treat their typical (small) advertiser, you'd understand how much BS this is. Finally, all of the above are companies, they will screw you if they need to. Google hosts my email (for free), it's a pretty simple matter to change to someone else if they start screwing, since I host under my own domain. If you have a .mac address you are screwed if Apple doesn't provide you with decent service.

Agreed. Google DOES have reason to keep users happy.

Just not as much, as directly, and as deeply embedded in their strategy as Apple. The results of which show.

And Google DOES treat small advertisers badly sometimes. Yet advertisers ARE who they are selling to (especially big ones).

And I agree that hosting your own domain is a good way to control your own email address forever. I do that! And for my backup address? I use Google, as I do for search. I’m not anti-Google as a whole. I just see how things are, and I see how their approach to a mobile OS varies vs. Apple’s approach, in a way that makes me glad to use iOS.

I also see the larger pattern where they want to make everything free and ad-supported. Can’t blame them—it’s who they are—but I’m not on their side in that trend! I like having ad-supported options in the mix, though. I use many such products willingly.