Subject: Re: OT mostly: forevers
"I forgot - I wouldn't do Alphabet. I don't like their passing acquaintance with privacy, and basically all they do is sell ads when it comes to actual revenue that keeps them actually afloat."

Ok I suppose that's a fair take but I think you're underestimating how deeply Google has it's hooks into advertising. For starters search ain't going away and Google has closed the distance with the AI chat bots. The average consumer still thinks "google it". When it comes to ecommerce any company that sells on the web is almost completely reliant on Google. Their ability to ensure that a retailer can find an end consumer is second to none. Amazon finally realised this about 5-7 years ago and started to copy that model within their own site and it's been a boon for them but they are still reliant on Google to bring every customer outside of their domain to their site.

Advertising brings in about $265B so you're right that that's probably what is keeping them afloat but You Tube has also become a behemoth that's probably got a bigger moat and more opportunity for growth. You Tube brings in $60M in revenue, compare that with Netflix which brings in $45B! Name another business that can charge it's consumers money NOT to have adverisements?

Regarding the privacy issues I completely agree with you but this is a much larger issue than just Google. It's all big tech.