Has anyone de-googled (stopped using Google services)? What was your experience?

[MacBH928]

-it is a balance, if you can tolerate the loss of privacy vs paying out right for a secure service.

A lot of people are willing to pay over infesting their devices with spying trackers and recorders, and I am one of them. In fact, this is exactly how the internet worked up until around 2000 or so. The problem is that there is no option to pay in the first place. For example there is not a paid browser today. Sometimes there is a paying services that will still spy on you like YouTube Premium.

Some services made it work including DDG that makes money from ads related to search terms, ProtonMail, Threema messenger, Canonical/Ubuntu, Wikipedia, etc..

 

[Mac... nificent]

I'd be interested to hear from others that may have gone down the same route, and what your experiences have been.

I have removed google and have never been happier.

Strange fact: humans have lived without google for millennia, and have survived.

 

[afd]

I've been trying to de-google for a few years now. I think I'm about 75% iCloud 25% gmail. Most of my searches are DDG, occasionally I google things if DDG doesn't find what I'm looking for. Work has blocked DDG for some reason though. I actually like Apple Maps, I used Navigon for years until they stopped supporting it. I sometimes use google earth to measure distances. YouTube, like most, is where google is used the most. My daughter uses account so it has a very strange mix of topics.
Next step is to DeAmazon.

 

[jeyf]

... Next step is to DeAmazon.

Amazon is like any retail place. Please shop around on ebay.
4example
-a house hold item had a good reddit reference. We really thought we needed it, not a totally frivolous item, it was twice the price on Amazon compared to what we found in ebay.
-both Amazon and ebay charge sales tax these days. Why not just buy it at a local brick and mortar store?

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Its better to use just YouTube account-less than: GMail, GMaps, GDocs, GDrive, Chrome, ChromeOS, Google Pixel, Search, Google Play Store, Stadia, Google Assistant, Waze...etc

^^This. For me, there are three Google services I cannot avoid but I use them without logging in (I have a GMail account, just to save my name, but never use it)

The three things are YouTube, Google Maps and the search engine. I live in Germany, and I very often get the impression, also in this thread, that from an US perspective, there are more options. DDG search for German sites is horrible. So are Bing and Yahoo Search. Google is the only one with good results, they are miles above any other search engine.
Same with Google Maps. When I read here at MR that Apple Maps is adding services here and there, then mostly this is for the US. Makes sense for Apple but does not help me for degoogleisation. Looking for shops, or points of interests, or... in a certain area in Germany only works with Google because in other services, there is not enough data.

But again, as I do not log in (gets more tedious to use Google services without), I can avoid at least some data (at least I hope so). Deleting the browser on a regular basis history is another thing that I do, hoping that it helps.

 

[jeyf]

possibilities are endless where you live. compared to the US as there are no regulations in the US.

 

[andreamb]

First, apologies if this is not in the right forum, but I looked around and it seemed like it belongs here...

For a little while now, I've been thinking about removing as much Google from my life as I can, partly because I want to reduce the data they collect on me, and partly because I'm liking them less as a company as time goes on. I know they already have a boat load of info, but I want to reduce what they get going forward. So my plan is to remove as much Google stuff from my life as I can. I don't use Chrome as a browser (haven't for some time), I'm using Safari on my Mac, iPhone and iPad, and Firefox on my PC. I've switched search engines to DuckDuckGo, which seems to be going ok so far. Apple Maps instead of Google. The only other things of theirs that I use are YouTube and Gmail. I am looking at a couple of different options for email (possibly just switch to iCloud or maybe something like Protonmail and a custom domain). As for YouTube, I may bite the bullet and keep that and just use my Gmail account for that and nothing else, as I don't want to start a new email account and end up linking it straight back to a Google service.

I'd be interested to hear from others that may have gone down the same route, and what your experiences have been. Are there things I should look out for (pros and cons)? Was it worth it? Please note that I'm not necessarily looking for specific alternatives to Google services (as there's loads of info out there covering that), more experiences, tips and thoughts on the process.

Thanks,

Dave.

Hi Dave, hi all, the question you pose is very interesting. I'll start to say that if I have to decide to delegate my privacy to someone it should be a democratic institution like a state and not a company where I can't vote to approve the CEO... Second issue to raise, if the service is no cost don't expect there is no charge. For the one that evaluate privacy important a good behaviour is to pay for, I will move to Proton Email service soon. Third issue unfortunately me, you and others are part of conversation beside our email choice, what's wrong here is that google index and read our conversation even if apparently we move to another system, this is not fair for sure... maybe I can Appel to some EU privacy rules for having better and more equal treatment. Last but not least, is a damned difficult world and being out of the radar of companies like google of Facebook or whatever is quite difficult. Even Apple has a lot of difficulties in managing the line between privacy rights and law enforcement, they still do not crypt iCloud and this the biggest backdoor to our privacy in their environment ... at least in this case are the Govs to read our email, messages and stuff .. I am sure we must do some before situation exaggerate, good to talk about ... let me know your think.. cheers Andrea

 

[AdamNC]

I have thought about it... I only use Gmail, and Youtube. It would be very hard to change my e-mail. I have used the same account from day one. I was one of the first people to get an invite. My friend left AOL in 2005 and gave me access to Gmail Beta in early 2006.

 

[jeff elohim]

First, apologies if this is not in the right forum, but I looked around and it seemed like it belongs here...

For a little while now, I've been thinking about removing as much Google from my life as I can, partly because I want to reduce the data they collect on me, and partly because I'm liking them less as a company as time goes on. I know they already have a boat load of info, but I want to reduce what they get going forward. So my plan is to remove as much Google stuff from my life as I can. I don't use Chrome as a browser (haven't for some time), I'm using Safari on my Mac, iPhone and iPad, and Firefox on my PC. I've switched search engines to DuckDuckGo, which seems to be going ok so far. Apple Maps instead of Google. The only other things of theirs that I use are YouTube and Gmail. I am looking at a couple of different options for email (possibly just switch to iCloud or maybe something like Protonmail and a custom domain). As for YouTube, I may bite the bullet and keep that and just use my Gmail account for that and nothing else, as I don't want to start a new email account and end up linking it straight back to a Google service.

I'd be interested to hear from others that may have gone down the same route, and what your experiences have been. Are there things I should look out for (pros and cons)? Was it worth it? Please note that I'm not necessarily looking for specific alternatives to Google services (as there's loads of info out there covering that), more experiences, tips and thoughts on the process.

Thanks,

Dave.

I sure tried, for years. Finally , sort of, gave in or gave up. So much it seems "needs" permission(s) to work at all. I don't even like giving microphone permission to maps or camera, but what to do ? Some people online have 'succeeded', with a persistance and effort I wish I had. I guess I'm 'waiting' for someone to just show relatively 'easy' how to go simple and find computer and phone programs that work without connecting to big brother. (as much as popssible) oops

 

[ian87w]

I would like to, but I won't be able to. The closest thing I've done is use Microsoft Edge as the default browser on my Android.

Google Maps: pretty much the only one that's usable in my country. Apple Maps is unusable.
GMail: With some institutions, even government ones, prefer GMail, unfortunately it's unavoidable. Out state owned enterprise telephone company can only send electronic statements automatically to GMail addresses. That's how stupid things are here. Plus, I have had my GMail address for a long
Android: I actually did paly around with custom ROMs and whatnot on some of my older phones. But the minute I need apps, GMS has to be in. I guess it's possible if the phone is literally destined to be just a "dumbphone."
Youtube: no alternative
Google Drive: I've been migrating to OneDrive bit by bit. Other than GDrive specifics like Whatsapp backup, this is completely doable.
Search: I tried and want to like the alternatives like DuckDuckgo and Bing. But for local searches, nothing beats Google, unfortunately.

 

[tranceking26]

So I have the shiny, snappier new Safari and I noticed something. See the mouse cursor:

Looks like it's blocked, but anybody not blocking trackers is "tagged" by our dear friend google anyway?

 

[dk001]

I would like to, but I won't be able to. The closest thing I've done is use Microsoft Edge as the default browser on my Android.

Google Maps: pretty much the only one that's usable in my country. Apple Maps is unusable.
GMail: With some institutions, even government ones, prefer GMail, unfortunately it's unavoidable. Out state owned enterprise telephone company can only send electronic statements automatically to GMail addresses. That's how stupid things are here. Plus, I have had my GMail address for a long
Android: I actually did paly around with custom ROMs and whatnot on some of my older phones. But the minute I need apps, GMS has to be in. I guess it's possible if the phone is literally destined to be just a "dumbphone."
Youtube: no alternative
Google Drive: I've been migrating to OneDrive bit by bit. Other than GDrive specifics like Whatsapp backup, this is completely doable.
Search: I tried and want to like the alternatives like DuckDuckgo and Bing. But for local searches, nothing beats Google, unfortunately.

You are using Edge but ... just means you aren't using Chrome. You are still using Google.

 

[dk001]

So I have the shiny, snappier new Safari and I noticed something. See the mouse cursor:

View attachment 1751430

Looks like it's blocked, but anybody not blocking trackers is "tagged" by our dear friend google anyway?

It is surprising the number of sites that have Facebook, Google and others lurking in the background even if you don't use them.
I don't have a FB account yet there they are.

 

[MacBH928]

I've been trying to de-google for a few years now. I think I'm about 75% iCloud 25% gmail. Most of my searches are DDG, occasionally I google things if DDG doesn't find what I'm looking for. Work has blocked DDG for some reason though. I actually like Apple Maps, I used Navigon for years until they stopped supporting it. I sometimes use google earth to measure distances. YouTube, like most, is where google is used the most. My daughter uses account so it has a very strange mix of topics.
Next step is to DeAmazon.

^^This. For me, there are three Google services I cannot avoid but I use them without logging in (I have a GMail account, just to save my name, but never use it)

The three things are YouTube, Google Maps and the search engine. I live in Germany, and I very often get the impression, also in this thread, that from an US perspective, there are more options. DDG search for German sites is horrible. So are Bing and Yahoo Search. Google is the only one with good results, they are miles above any other search engine.
Same with Google Maps. When I read here at MR that Apple Maps is adding services here and there, then mostly this is for the US. Makes sense for Apple but does not help me for degoogleisation. Looking for shops, or points of interests, or... in a certain area in Germany only works with Google because in other services, there is not enough data.

But again, as I do not log in (gets more tedious to use Google services without), I can avoid at least some data (at least I hope so). Deleting the browser on a regular basis history is another thing that I do, hoping that it helps.

For search use StartPage.com they give Google results but they work as a middle man between you and Google. I have no idea why Google allowed them to do this.

I would like to, but I won't be able to. The closest thing I've done is use Microsoft Edge as the default browser on my Android.

Google Maps: pretty much the only one that's usable in my country. Apple Maps is unusable.
GMail: With some institutions, even government ones, prefer GMail, unfortunately it's unavoidable. Out state owned enterprise telephone company can only send electronic statements automatically to GMail addresses. That's how stupid things are here. Plus, I have had my GMail address for a long
Android: I actually did paly around with custom ROMs and whatnot on some of my older phones. But the minute I need apps, GMS has to be in. I guess it's possible if the phone is literally destined to be just a "dumbphone."
Youtube: no alternative
Google Drive: I've been migrating to OneDrive bit by bit. Other than GDrive specifics like Whatsapp backup, this is completely doable.
Search: I tried and want to like the alternatives like DuckDuckgo and Bing. But for local searches, nothing beats Google, unfortunately.

I addressed most of this in a previous post here. For Android apps you can use Aurora Store and F-Droid. For search use StartPage.com.

Microsoft Edge and OneDrive is not much better than Google when it comes to privacy but its your choice. Its a better choice though.

I have thought about it... I only use Gmail, and Youtube. It would be very hard to change my e-mail. I have used the same account from day one. I was one of the first people to get an invite. My friend left AOL in 2005 and gave me access to Gmail Beta in early 2006.

I thought the same. With ProtonMail, they have a little software called ProtonBridge. Once you install it log in to your Gmail Account and ProtonMail account in Apple Mail. Then simply drag your emails and folders from the Gmail to Protonmail. It works like magic!

You can then slowly change the websites you signed up with using Gmail with your new Protonmail. This is for paid ProtonMail. Yes, pay with your money or pay with your life info. You are paying either way.

It is surprising the number of sites that have Facebook, Google and others lurking in the background even if you don't use them.
I don't have a FB account yet there they are.

They track you every where to spy on you and create a profile and sell it those who want it, gov, researchers, ads, you imagine it they provide it. They are the Data Traders.

Have you read the news about their girl that got pregnancy gifts from Target before bearing the child? Yup, pretty creepy stuff. And that was about 10 years ago, so you can imagine how much advanced they got now

 

[0279317]

I didn't like the idea that every one of my gmails was scanned. As part of my degooglification, I switched to protonmail (after a short transition period now everyone knows my proton address) and proton VPN. Their VPN recently added a malware and adware blocker. I also use Brave Browser/w Duck Duck Go to further protect my privacy. No more Amazon; I can find what I need elsewhere, often at a better price and don't buy as much junk (I know, that's my issue).

It's a process. Good info on this thread.

 

[ian87w]

You are using Edge but ... just means you aren't using Chrome. You are still using Google.

Facebook undersea cable to boost South East Asia internet

The two new cables will connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America.

news.yahoo.com

We literally cannot escape Facebook nor Google, they are the ones building our backbone cables... 😂

 

[afd]

Amazon is like any retail place. Please shop around on ebay.
4example
-a house hold item had a good reddit reference. We really thought we needed it, not a totally frivolous item, it was twice the price on Amazon compared to what we found in ebay.
-both Amazon and ebay charge sales tax these days. Why not just buy it at a local brick and mortar store?

Because they're all shut?

 

[ruka.snow]

You can greatly reduce the data collected on you from Youtube by viewing the videos on DuckDuckGo. I had all but successfully killed off Google usage until I moved to a new company were they rely on the G-Suite.

 

[ian87w]

You can greatly reduce the data collected on you from Youtube by viewing the videos on DuckDuckGo. I had all but successfully killed off Google usage until I moved to a new company were they rely on the G-Suite.

The enterprise products of Google has a different set of ToS because of stricter regulations involving businesses, including privacy regulations.

 

[bobnugget]

I haven't fully degoogled as I still use Waze for nav, Google for search and Youtube for video.

I did set-up Containers in Firefox - this seems really good; I have a google container, youtube container, personal and work containers. These separate the cookies out between containers, so help stop google from tracking my search/other site browsing.The new cookie jar facility also seems very handy.

I switched to Fastmail from gmail - really easy, and it can be set up to have other accounts auto forward to it.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I've been thinking of it, especially with this nonsense of refusing to update iOS apps. I'll admit I'm probably less concerned about privacy than I should be. I've just been a long time internet user since I was a kid and while I'm more aware of putting my information out there, it's hard to get off the information harvesting "grid" entirely. I'm all for people trying to de-Google though.

 

[ignatius345]

Overall I've taken about 90% of my stuff off of Google at this point.

Mail: I moved all my receipt and mailing list email to iCloud a couple years ago but my personal and work stuff is all still on Gmail because that's the address everyone has for me. iCloud Mail is fine, but definitely lacks a lot of the features of Gmail. It's good enough for what I'm using it for, though. I'm considering going back to Fastmail for my personal email, but switching addresses is always a massive pain.

Calendars: I migrated my calendars years ago to iCloud Calendars because Google Calendar was just abysmal at syncing with my iPhone and Mac calendars. It was a great choice and sync has always been rock solid. Unfortunately I do have to still sync a few Google Calendars shared by others.

Maps: Apple Maps is my go-to and works great for navigation -- though their POI database still isn't as good as Google's for the most part. I sometimes fall back to checking Google Maps to find a place, but then will put the address into Apple Maps to actually navigate to it. I also maintain my saved map places on Apple Maps now that that feature has gotten a lot more robust.

File Storage/Sync: Google Drive I never really liked because the interface is awful. I'm very pleased with iCloud Drive as an alternative. iCloud just plugs in very well to my Apple devices (obviously). Dropbox is also very good but their Mac client has gotten majorly cluttered in recent years, and it doesn't plug into Photos the way iCloud Drive does.

Search: I switched my browsers to DuckDuckGo a few months ago and I'd say about 90% of the time it's good enough. Sometimes it really isn't, though, and I have to go back to Google.

Stuff like YouTube, I don't have as much control over. If someone posts a video there and I want to see it I don't have much choice. I probably would choose to share stuff on Vimeo, though, if I was creating something myself.

 

[Rodan52]

I think it's really important to keep things simple. There are more and more security options out there today such as NextDNS which is a system wide, secure, filtering service but like Ghostery browser extension requires time and effort to customise to your needs. I recently tested the beta version of Ghostery Dawn (GD) which incorporates a subscription based secure, search engine called Glow. It uses the Mozilla open source code and looks and feels just like Firefox. If you like Firefox you would probably like Ghostery Dawn and it has Ghostery anti tracking and ad blocking built in. You can also use GD for free without Glow using the search engine of your choice. This browser works on macOS as well as iOS/iPadOS.

Another alternative not mentioned here is Vivaldi. This browser has come a long way since inception and has some unique work flow features as well as built in anti tracking and ad blocking options and a free email service. It's only drawback is it has no iOS version at this time. https://vivaldi.com/features/privacy-security/

I think security is the name of the game here although privacy is important and the two often overlap so I have removed most of my Google services such as Chrome, Calendar, Contacts, Google Maps, Places, AdSense, Chat, News, Google Docs etc etc from my computer but I retain Google Maps on my iPhone (just in case) but it has no Mobile Data.
I still have a gMail account but I don't use it for much other than utility services. The one other Google service/app I cannot do without is Google Translate.

I have a constant, no logging VPN on all my devices, I use DuckDuck Go as my default search engine everywhere and Brave Browser on all my devices synced via Brave Sync Chain.

I use Spam Sieve on Apple Mail (running in the background) and Spark as my default email client, the effect is that email delegated to spam in Mail is mirrored by Spark.

 

[MacBH928]

If you are looking to escape YouTube, there is a way by hosting your own videos and "YouTube" site . Its called PeerTube . It won't work well as a YouTube alternative, but if you don't want your videos on YouTube or they demonetized you or taken your video down you can use this.

Similarly you can create your own twitter service, or join one, using Mastodon

I didn't like the idea that every one of my gmails was scanned. As part of my degooglification, I switched to protonmail (after a short transition period now everyone knows my proton address) and proton VPN. Their VPN recently added a malware and adware blocker. I also use Brave Browser/w Duck Duck Go to further protect my privacy. No more Amazon; I can find what I need elsewhere, often at a better price and don't buy as much junk (I know, that's my issue).

It's a process. Good info on this thread.

Where do you shop other than Amazon?

I haven't fully degoogled as I still use Waze for nav, Google for search and Youtube for video.

I did set-up Containers in Firefox - this seems really good; I have a google container, youtube container, personal and work containers. These separate the cookies out between containers, so help stop google from tracking my search/other site browsing.The new cookie jar facility also seems very handy.

I switched to Fastmail from gmail - really easy, and it can be set up to have other accounts auto forward to it.

I think the cookie jar thing is only ON when you set the shield to "Strict" .

Search: I switched my browsers to DuckDuckGo a few months ago and I'd say about 90% of the time it's good enough. Sometimes it really isn't, though, and I have to go back to Google.

Stuff like YouTube, I don't have as much control over. If someone posts a video there and I want to see it I don't have much choice. I probably would choose to share stuff on Vimeo, though, if I was creating something myself.

idk if you know this already but in DDG you can add a bang (!) to search other site:
!w = Wikipedia
!g = Google
!b = bing
!amz =Amazon
!yt = YouTube
!d = thefreedictionary.com

there are a lot of bangs!

 

[Rodan52]

I'm surprised at the number of users who say YouTube is such a sticking point. Guess I didn't know how popular it is. I have an Android set top box so of course I have a Google account for the Google Play store but I only watch it on TV in any case if you are not being tracked I'm not sure what the issue is. I see no need to use it on my computer. As for Amazon, I think I've only used it twice in the last 2 years. There are so many speciality online stores I have never needed to.