Was that linked to Google's Chromebook site, or a third party manufacturer?
A single link to a product being designed by Google, when the product in question (a Chromebook) uses the same product (Chrome) as it's primary interface is hardly 'ZOMG! Chrome is running the ads now!!!'.
It's directly related to Chrome and Google is simply saying 'here's another way you can experience the browser you're already using that we came up with'.
A single link to a product being designed by Google, when the product in question (a Chromebook) uses the same product (Chrome) as it's primary interface is hardly 'ZOMG! Chrome is running the ads now!!!'.
Yes, this is nothing new. Surprised people never saw it before in fact.
Also surprised people didn't expect this. Like any company, Google ties its products together and promotes one on the other. As another example, some google websites will recommend using chrome.
Also annoying: the "you're missing out! -- sign in" appeal to associate your browser with .. what exactly? On Ubunutu, it's suggesting that I sign in to Chromium.
Awesome New Tab Page is a sweet one, with a programmable widget system anyone can add to. (I guess Google will do something similar and official at some point.)
Because the billions they make from search aren't enough. Of course they are free to do whatever they want, and you are even allowed to hide those ads (or use open source version), but I think there's a limit where it will get too much.
If it bundles in advertising then is it really free? Consider how much money is spent on ads - they clearly have an effect, and given the obscene amounts of money spent, probably not a small one.
So what is the impact of advertising? We buy more things because someone has convinced us that we need them, become more likely to get into debt and save less as a result. I cannot consider this to be free in good conscience. I'm not the only one who sees it this way either -
I'm working on a similar extension that stores your settings on a server (see my other comment to this post) and was wondering: what are the main Spped Dial 2 features that you use?
The homepage. With the links. Mostly that, in plain, no groups or nothing. Sometimes I like to fiddle with the background and some settings but 99% of my usage consists of that. I watched the statistics page once when I found it. I even disabled the sidebar because it was annoying. I really liked Opera and it remembers it a lot. If you can come up with something similar give me a shot I will gladly try it.
Open source shouldn't be considered free either. People put in countless man hours working on open source projects, and giving something back in return should be common etiquette.
My point is, you always pay for something. In the case of Chrome, surely you don't believe that Google has no self-interest in building Chrome?
> Open source shouldn't be considered free either. People put in countless man hours working on open source projects, and giving something back in return should be common etiquette.
I have an open source project. I don't advertise on it. I give it away freely and happily, knowing I gain no revenue from it.
> My point is, you always pay for something. In the case of Chrome, surely you don't believe that Google has no self-interest in building Chrome?
A web browser allows access to all websites (broad reach). HN is just one website on the web (narrow reach). Pretty clear to me why this is a bad comparison, just interested to know why the OP thought otherwise.
I don't see what reach has to do with making HN "free" and Chrome "not free" if they both use space in their interfaces to deliver advertisements. Arguably, Chrome would be more "free" since HN displays its advertisements more prominently than Chrome's and they masquerade as user-generated content. Is there more to your metric?
Google is desperate for revenue, their PE is 25+, Apple and MSFT have it 10 or so. Their stock will drop in half if growth isn't there. Every search page with commercial interest is already pay-to-play, some openly, others obvious enough for anyone.
What's next for that 30% growth Larry wants? What other service is he going to ruin for short term profits? At their valuation it becomes harder and harder to beat the previous year's earnings.
Google has done a lot of sleazy and illegal things for revenue so spare me the outrage
Yeah, it was all over WSJ a while back. Something to do with adwords and advertising for illegal drugs, hormones or something. Top execs knew but Google paid a fine and they escaped.
A single link to a product being designed by Google, when the product in question (a Chromebook) uses the same product (Chrome) as it's primary interface is hardly 'ZOMG! Chrome is running the ads now!!!'.
It's directly related to Chrome and Google is simply saying 'here's another way you can experience the browser you're already using that we came up with'.