Google has a number of completely unrelated businesses. The fact that one of them has to do with advertising doesn't mean it would monetize other businesses through advertising.
Conversely here's a reason why I think Google is _less_ likely to invade Gmail users' privacy: It's already one of the most scrutinized companies in the world. If it were doing something shady with emails, it would likely to be picked up. Furthermore, it's a big company. More employees would know about that and it's more likely that someone would whistle-blow.
> Google has a number of completely unrelated businesses. The fact that one of them has to do with advertising doesn't mean it would monetize other businesses through advertising.
Correct, but 80.78% of Alphabet’s revenues were from advertising related income last year. See Note 2 to their financial statements[0]. Alphabet is through-and-through an advertising company at its core. It’s a fair assumption that their other ventures are potentially used to generate more advertising revenue in one way or another.
Also as a former auditor, I’m glad we’ve disclosed your conflict of interest working for the company. Unfortunately that means others cannot take you as seriously as you’d like.
Conversely here's a reason why I think Google is _less_ likely to invade Gmail users' privacy: It's already one of the most scrutinized companies in the world. If it were doing something shady with emails, it would likely to be picked up. Furthermore, it's a big company. More employees would know about that and it's more likely that someone would whistle-blow.