In 2011 I wrote a mock-up of a long-form advert about how Google might work if we charged users rather than selling their data.
Dear Google User.
I'd like to take this page to ask you a question. Imagine Google told you you are worth 5¢ a day. To them. Would you be insulted? Imagine tomorrow Google charged you to use Google. Say, 5¢. Is that a lot? What would you get for that? So imagine Google offered to remove all the adverts. Even the ones on YouTube. For 5¢ each day. That's 35¢ a week. $1.50 a month.
You probably use apps and websites everyday; just like everything else you either pay for them with money, or with your information. Google is sometimes accused of selling your information. We don't do that. But we are in business, so we want you to be able to choose, fairly and simply, how to pay. So we're thinking, maybe, for a nickel a day, you could try Ad-Free Google. No ads in your GMail, no more ads in YouTube, no more ads when you search, no ads in our glasses. And Google will give you 200Gb of free space for your apps, music and docs using Drive & Play. But mainly you will know that you are in control of your data. You'll have peace of mind that the words you search with are only used to make your experience of Google more helpful. The more you personalize your Google, the more personal it becomes. And if removing the ads helps, well, we're keen to help too. We're not an advertising company, we're an information company.
It's a serious offer. Let us know.*
--- OR ---
Google will always remain free, and committed to making the world's information universally accessible and it will fund that by showing adverts to you, paid for by advertisers, just like the ads on TV. And even though we make Google free *you* are the most important people in the world to us, so you must feel in control of how Google uses the information you share with us. You can track your history, change preferences, manage the kinds of ads you see, or just delete everything, as often as you like. And if you're not happy about that then you must tell us. Here**
Google's approach is based on security, transparency and control. We protect your data from those who might abuse it, tell you what information we're collecting as clearly as we can, and give you meaningful choices so you can feel comfortable when using Google. We'll keep trying to make this all as simple and intuitive as a search query.
So nothing will change unless you want it to change. But the question remains: for 5¢ a day, would you turn the ads off?
Thanks for reading.
Larry Page @ Google