They could instead severely cripple or outright block Firefox users. Since we are the minority, it won’t affect them. They will just blame it on Firefox and wash their hands off.
Why just Google? Search has gone into the gutter across the board. Certain search constraints like excluding keywords or sites no longer work. Amazon doesn’t even care what you type in - they just show you what they want you to buy.
I mean, if it’s a one time payment then he has no reasons to regret the decision even if the users dropped off. On the other hand, if he was expecting a recurring royalty from the buyer, then he didn’t think it through.
PS: I’m not justifying his actions in any manner. If a sale without a heads up is deceptive, his last reply was outright indignation. I’m just trying to understand whether he actually regretted it or not.
Facebook for all its nastiness was very much incompetent in influencing the direction of the web. Look at their failed attempts like free basics.
Google on the other hand has the web tightly in its dirty grip. At this point, they aren’t even pretending to be nice. Even those plans that cause them reputational damage are brought back in some other name.
The only way to stop Google is for the regulatory agencies to put their foot down hard. They should be divided into at least a couple dozen companies that are not allowed to do business with each other.