Google’s story over the last two decades has been a tale as old as time: enshittification for growth. The once-beloved startup—with its unofficial “Don’t Be Evil” motto—has instead become a major Internet monopolist, as a federal judge ruled on Monday, dominating the market for online search. Google is also well-known for its data-harvesting practices, for constantly killing off products, and for facilitating the rise of brain-cell-destroying YouTubers who make me Fear for Today’s Youth. (Maybe that last one is just me?)

Google’s rapid rise from “scrappy search engine with doodles” to “dystopic mega-corporation” has been remarkable in many ways, especially when you consider just how much goodwill the company squandered so quickly. Along the way, though, Google has achieved one unexpected result: In a divided America, it offers just about everyone something to hate.

Here are just a few of the players hating Google today.

  • @Donjuanme
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    1 month ago

    “streaming is worse than cable now” is it though?

    I stream for weeks on end without a single ad, watching only what I want. I go to an older person’s house and I hear the same friggin commercial jingles, the same canned studio laughter, and shows that are designed for the stupidest common denominator.

    I grew up in the era of Saturday morning cartoons. My brain was liquidified on cereal commercials. I won’t allow cable into my house under any circumstances.

    But I do agree that we should learn from too easily replacing the working with the next big thing without any regulations on how the next big thing is allowed to operate

    • @[email protected]
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      251 month ago

      I stream for weeks on end without a single ad

      But that’s now changing. The bottom tiers of many (most?) streaming apps include ads, and it’s not a stretch to think that they’ll include ads on the higher tiers eventually, or just increase prices until people downgrade to ad-supported tiers. Yeah, you can use an ad-blocker, but you could also use a DVR for cable that also filters out ads.

      I’m bailing on both and just buying physical media again. I hope that doesn’t die out, but I’m done with paying for subscriptions. We don’t watch a ton, so I’m probably going to save money this way.

      I wish we had a streaming equivalent of a DVR, then I might actually want streaming again.

    • @David_Eight
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      1 month ago

      “streaming is worse than cable now”

      Ironically, pirating has never been easier lol

          • @[email protected]
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            41 month ago

            I’m not an expert, but I’ve recently used BulkNews and Fast Usenet and I liked them both. You’ll also need an indexer, personally I like DrunkenSlug, NZBGeek and NinjaCentral, but not all of them have open signups.

    • TeoTwawki
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      1 month ago

      Its worse in that to see the content I want I need MULTIPLE subscriptions that add up to more than cables cost …or I can sail the high seas once more. I’ve cancellled everything except amazon because I save enough on shipping to justify it (mostly heavy items)