Google is the Papparazzi
Google is the Paparazzi of the Internet. They don't limit their stalking to people of fame, they target everybody. They covertly track users everywhere: on their sites, on other sites, at your home, on the road. Text, facial, and voice. Digitally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Instead of a camera they use spyware, malware, and adware that they call software (and they use cameras). Search, Maps, Android, Gmail- they didn't make these out of kindness- these are surveilence tools. Like paparazzi, they use your discreetly taken information and sell access to the highest bidder (advertisers).
1997 Google is an idea
1998 Google is a plucky lil startup search engine
1999 Google is an advertising dependent company
2004 Google is a public company
2005-2010 Google is called a Technology Company
2010-2015 Google is called an Ad-tech Company
2015+ Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet, a multi-national conglomerate
What is Google today? They are the same thing they have always been- Paparazzi.
Paparazzi: (noun) A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers.
Paparazzi use cameras- that doesn't make them a camera company. They use cars and phones but nobody would call them a cell company or automobile company.
Google buillt and bought technology but that is not what they sell. Search, Gmail, Drive, Photos, Docs, Maps, Android, Analytics, Cloud, YouTube, Chrome, Nexus/Pixel, Nest and so many that have come and gone.
Google’s main business is online advertising. In 2020, Alphabet generated almost $183 billion in revenue. Of that, $147 billion — over 80% — came from Google’s ads
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/how-does-google-make-money-advertising-business-breakdown-.html
Hold up! All that cool software and they make almost all their money from ads.
So is Google an advertising company? They are not "in" the advertising business, they don't come up with slogans or jingles, they don't run campaigns, they don't write radio ads or script TV commercials. They aren't Mad Men.
What is the point of all that tech if they aren't a tech company? Why are they called an ad company if they aren't an advertiser? PR. Saying you are in the stalking business doesn't sound too great. Saying you build malware doesn't have the same ring to it as "tech".
All of Google's "tech" is designed for a singular purpose- to track people. Google doesn't sell your data just like Coke doesn't sell their secret formula, they sell access to it.