cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/64574915
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2026
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No, they don't. You give them data by using their service. They then earn money with that data.
Which pays for the costs associated with providing you the service without you directly paying for it.
This has been the tradeoff for a long time. If the terms aren't acceptable, then don't use the service.
So do they or do they not lose money if I use their service without paying for it?
Without them having a different source of income, yes. Web hosting, IT staff, etc. cost money. Or if the free users outnumber the paid users to the point where the costs aren't covered by paid users.
If you run a gas station and the only people who visit just need to use the bathroom, the business loses money.
I'm not a fan of sites funded by advertising and data collection, so I don't use them. But let's not pretend that users of such sites get nothing from the arrangement.
You're implying that this is about small businesses. Big corporations don't compare with a gas station. They make ridiculously large amounts of money off of ignorance, apathy, or us being too distracted by struggling to survive.
No, you're inferring that I'm talking about small business by mistaking my analogy.
My point was that providing a service free of charge means the company pays the costs of the service. Some companies offset this by collecting data and providing ads.
You're free to not use services that use this business model.
Let's not act as if this prevents them from collecting my data anyway.
So you agree that these companies earn money despite me not paying them a subscription. Going back to my initial point: Do they lose money if I use their service without paying for it? Answer: No, they don't. Wasn't so hard, was it?
Apparently it's hard to understand that running a website costs money.
If I were to state the obvious and acknowledge that running a website costs money, would you in return stop dodging my initial point too?
I'm not dodging your initial point. Companies compensate you for the data and advertising with free access to the website. The money they earn this way is used to pay for the service they're providing.
That's why them paying you a subscription for the data isn't a thing. You've already agreed to the trade.
Great, we agree that these companies aren't profiting off of monthly subscriptions but data collection instead. Allow me to rewind:
@harmbugler@piefed.social said:
A funny comment implying the companies are making an unfairly high amount of profits off of its users' data. Your reply:
You strike me as someone who understands that it's impossible to use such services without paying with data. So an appropriate response would be "No, they don't". Agreed?
I feel like you're failing to grasp the core concept here.
Yeah yeah, those poor tech companies are struggling to keep their website online because all we give them is all of our data. Just downvote me and feel victorious, corporate simp.