&gt; <i>He&#x27;s making an argument that Google can&#x27;t sign on to</i><p>That&#x27;s only true if Google is unwilling to trade ad revenue for subscription revenue. Google Apps for Work is a product area where Google is making that trade-off, and is presumably not cannibalizing their ad business. There is no reason Google can&#x27;t offer a consumer-friendly subscription service that would be unbreakably private at similar pricing.