Google “mandatory” news spam

To my G Suite basic account:

"Important updates to Google News & Weather

Google News & Weather is being replaced with the new Google News, available to download on iOS and Android."

and then bla bla details bla. With 2 "call to action" buttons to install the new app.

At the bottom, "You received this mandatory email service announcement to let you know about important changes to Google News & Weather."

It's authentically from Google.

I have never once installed or used the Google News and/or Weather apps. Google should infer this since they've never seen a login cookie from me. Even if I had, certainly the normal app upgrade process should be sufficient, yes?

Why does Google need to push this so hard that they send unwanted spam to their paying customers? Reminds me of when they broke their own rule of home page advertising to push chromebooks.

In a word, disgusting.

2 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 7.3 ms ] thread

myinnerbanjo 7y ago ↗

Remember, they're a data company. They have data on you, and they want more. The best thing for us to do is to just stop giving it to them. Just as open source was the shadow of licensed software, I'm hoping there'll be a competitor to the data-hungry regime of current internet companies. Not sure how they can replace the revenue stream, but, that's the beauty of the marketplace. There's the demand. The supply will find a way.

through 7y ago ↗

I concur. Have encountered the same (but with different adverts).

There is no opt out / unsubscribe in the unwanted email.

I still respect some of the potential of Alphabet.

Google. No.