[hn_decay]

So if we discard the polarizing language about customers and products, we get to your point being that the more profitable you are as a customer, the more attention you get?

I don't think that is terribly challenging viewpoint.

[danilocampos]

Perhaps. But the vast disparity between the class of user that an advertiser is versus, well, everyone else, makes the original language both apt and more economical.

There are infinite degrees of nuance everywhere you look. We use language to reduce that complexity. You can call it sophistry as much as you like — the reason it's polarizing is because the reality sucks for 99% of people who need Google's help — they're not treated as customers as most people understand that term. Inconvenient but true.