MetaFilter poster blue_beetle wrote on August 26, 2010:
 
“If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”
 
This means that, while Google and Facebook are free to users, the user is really the product. Google and Facebook track users and sell their activities and preferences to advertisers. A poster was made from the saying in 2011.
 
   
MetaFilter
Metafilter Metacritic Digg redesign prompts user revolt!
If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:41 PM on August 26, 2010 [381 favorites]
   
The Independent (UK)
Rhodri Marsden: A Twitpic of my dinner – but do I own the rights?
Cyberclinic Wednesday 25 May 2011
(...)
Ultimately, however, services that we use for free will always have to find ways of making some money. Or, in the words of a wise sage called blue_beetle on the site MetaFilter: “If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”
 
MetaTalk
We’re all still products being sold. But now we’re pigs.
September 29, 2011 2:32 AM
Just over a year ago, blue_beetle commented that “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.” This made the rounds for a bit, as people recognized the truth in it. (Previously and previously on MeTa) Today, his comment has been featured—without attribution—on a “demotivational poster” comparing Facebook users to pigs.
posted by knile to MetaFilter-Related at 2:32 AM (171 comments total)
 
Musings from Sussex
Cartoon: If you’re not paying for the product….
October 4, 2011
One for those who ask whether Facebook is going to start charging users….
 
VentureBeat
Facebook’s entire business model is under fire in the EU
November 28, 2011 12:26 PM
Jolie O’Dell
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.”
 
Facebook (and just about every other free Web service) has built a business on that saying and its implications, and the European Commission is taking the social network to task for it. The EU is considering a ban on Facebook’s practice of selling demographic data to marketers and advertisers without specific permission from users.
     
Forbes.com
3/05/2012 @ 12:34PM
If You’re Not Paying For It, You Become The Product
Scott Goodson
(...)
I’ll borrow a quote I read on MetaFilter recently: ‘If you’re not paying for it; you are the product’. I’m not sure how many people are fully aware of this sentiment yet or whether they even care. But the next time you’re browsing the web or enjoying a video on YouTube, remember that Google is watching your every move; because that’s the price you pay.
   
Bloomberg Businessweek
Would Twitter Be Better If You Paid for It?
By Mathew Ingram on July 23, 2012
(...)
Caldwell rails against what he calls the “advertising-supported monoculture” that prevails in much of Silicon Valley, where apps and services are created that turn users into content rather than partners—a model that is summed up by the popular phrase “If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product.”