Not until some company surfaces up offering all the services Google is offering. Some of them might not be up to the standards like Gmail (as you've mentioned) but currently we are the slaves of Google and can't let it go as of yet.
Big G won't care either you want to boycott them or not, because they totally own the internet now... I'm also wish that I can boycott it as well...Sigh
I share and respect all opinions posted in this thread, however I'd like to keep my position. I don't think that we are able to boycott Google now, coz we have no serious alternatives. It is necessary to create advanced technologies and assure market competitiveness to boost alternatives, and only then try boycotting Google.
Well, there're several truths in web sector. You can boom a business with adsense or w/ traffic for some limited time. But for a permanent leading strategy, for being a permanent player in the game, you should somehow write your rules. This is, not something everyone can be successful. There're many facebook-apps, which have 100Ks of users everyday and very huge budget. Well. Some of them are even sold for 100Ks of dollars (one of them was sold for 3 million dollars to Trip Advisor) Well, what if Facebook popularity suddenly decrease, what if they ban you tomorrow? What if...What if... If you don't write rules, there are many what-ifs. Acting with the leader is good and profitable, but better strategy is always writing new rules to the game and acting as free as possible. This is, again to say, not everyones job. If Yahoo exists today, that's because they acted that way. In 99 their first pages were really ugly but they followed a strategy to stand even players of the game collapse. In Turkey, there's a portal http://mynet.com, Alexa 494, they have video site, they have ad-service, they have ...bla bla. They never used Adsense, they never use youtube, they are persistent on being "self". Again, this is not everyones job to say I won't use Google X, Yahoo Y, MSN Z, I'll code myself an analytics, I'll code myself a map service, I'll code a mail service, ..... It's not everyones job.
You cant stop people from using google as their search medium. Google is very reliable. They do business legally and ethically. Perhaps you may use other search engines if you believe on them otherwise you need google in the end to widen your search capability. Goog Luck in your campaign. Yahoo is not Goog. Too Slow and Too many links.
jquindlen, I agree with you! Can I quote your first post you in onther places then this forum ? Thank's adi4x
Hmmm... so did anyone boycott google? I dont think so.... I love google, they provide top notch quality services, they own the internet for a reason and thats because they know what they are doing ,and what they are doing is the right thing, they are pushing technology further. The reasons why no one has been able to compete is because google builds up on their mistakes they make easier and more advanced their services where other companies like yahoo have been lacking. Adsense is such a great opportunity for real webmasters to make money people who abuse it get what they deserve in all honesty I have never seen more fair play in a corporate environment than google's. Hats off to the big G
I try to boycott google as much as I can. I only use GMAIL for spam . I have one right now that I am trying to fill up with just straight spam Then I have other Gmails that I just use to sign up on sites. Use and abuse. I also dont see any adsense ads and would never use adwords, I have other sites that do better for me than adwords. But as far as being in thier search engine, I guess I would be a hypocryte (spellin sucks) As my default I use yahoo for searching. I also have gmail accounts that I use just to email google useless crap....(I have too much free time on my hands yes I know) Google stock will go down...dont worry, it will be around Microsofts and the like.....just a little time till thier bubble bursts
To answer your question I did... Gmail = Free Adsense = Free to signup + money Google docs = Free igoogle = free google analytics = free google webmaster tools = free Where do you see the greed this company is going for? The only thing you pay for is adwords which is fair, in my opinion and the changes in policies every now and then I think its all to maintain their reputation as a reputable search engine. I believe in karma and the moment you see google prying into people's privacy or getting involved in any unethical business then it sure will fall. But at the moment the way they are running I dont see it happening anytime soon.
Google is centrally focused towards the end user experience. Hence some webmasters hate em cause they all want quick money. Honestly, as a google end user, I absolutely think google is the internet revolution. There is no goddamn question about the fact that google should be where it is now, at the top.
I had a very bad experience with google and they do cheat. Back in 2004 i have a web site A (Ecommerce) which make money from the product i sell thru internet, after some time i find out what is adsense, so i put adsense in my forum and it make some money legally, i never click, nvr ask some one to click at all, cause i treat adsense as my extra profit. Three year after that, i make around usd 700 (daily 150-300 uniq visitor after first year), i never cash out cause the transaction, currency exchange is so expensive (i live in Malaysia) and i trust google also........ mid of last year i bought over a site C (business expend), after three month google ban my account and said i had illegal activity, forfeit all MY money i make (adsense) in the past three year ..... So i wrote in to appear and ask where is the forfeited money go ? cause the money is from web site A and i dunno the site i purchase is ban by google (i making much more from my web business transaction, i don't have intention to cheat)..... but their reply is simple : Sorry GOOGLE said is ur fault means this is your fault NO APPEAR. all the money will return to publisher ........ The best is they never return the money to the publisher ..... cause i have a web site B which use adword (not same account cause is partnership CO), the ad is publish in my web site A and clicked (my partner show me).... is a year but still payment i received .... So what should i said abt google ??? currently i manage around 40+ website and none of it use adsense ....
From how I see it legitimate webmasters who are trying to build a real content rich website focused on the end user will get rewarded those who are out there just to make a quick buck, well google is not gonna stand there and watch their publisher's advertising budgets get eaten up by MFA sites. sorry