This argument has more straw men per square inch?

Google is big…
Yes, you can always use another search engine, but….the bigger they get the harder it is to avoid them.

At this point, even if you wanted to avoid Google, you would have a hard time of it.

I don’t really agree with this statement. However, the logical problem with your statement is that if it is true, no matter what happens to Google (one company or many) this will still happen.

So you use Bing instead of Google for search, well every web page that is using Google Ads or Google analytics is still keeping tabs on you.

And about 20 other various companies doing the same thing on those web pages. Is your argument against tracking in general, only that Google does it cause it’s “bigger”, or “?”

So you use Yahoo Mail instead of GMail, Google is still going through all of the emails that either come from other people with GMail or get sent to people with GMail. The bigger they get the more people will be using GMail and the harder it will be to avoid them.

To use your argument: If you use Yahoo Mail, Yahoo is still going through all of the emails that either come from other people with Yahoo or get sent to people with Yahoo. The bigger they get the more people will be using Yahoo and the harder it will be to avoid them. Again, is your argument against email in general, or only that Google does it?

If you have an Android phone, good luck trying to use a competitor’s mapping service. Last I checked they _required_ you to have a GMail account.

Having a Gmail account doesn’t force you to use a specific web page (Google maps, Bing Maps, MapQuest) on any phone. There isn’t any luck involved – I can go to any map service I want.

If you have a wireless router, Google wants to force you to ‘Opt-Out’ of them tracking it.

Well, only one that they have gone through the trouble of detecting, which *anyone* can do. However, I agree this is a pretty douchey(tm) move.

Can you see where this is heading? At some point, unless Google is forced to obey such things as the ‘Do not track’ header (which they have been adamantly opposed to), or move some of their things to an opt-in basis, you won’t be able to avoid their tracking of you.

I could do the substitution game again, but at this point I’m hoping you get the point – the “unless company X is forced to Y” argument could apply to anyone, yes? Again, why is this only in the context of Google? Again, are you only opposed to Google doing/not doing this thing when so many others do/don’t?

Phone vendors should be able to offer alternatives to Google Maps on an Android phone without worrying about Google putting the screws to them.

My Droid X actually came with the Verizon flavor of a map application, which I couldn’t get rid of quick enough. You might want to stop using the Android platform as your example, as the vendors implementing the platform have enormous freedom in how they deploy it, what features to include, etc. When you see homogeneous feature sets, it isn’t a conspiracy, but instead the end result of a decision to leverage the feature set because it provides the best value to the company implementing it. The exception is the application store, which Google does require a gmail account to leverage (billing, tracking, etc). Addressed next…

GMail should _not_ be a requirement for all Android phone users, or even Android developers.

Let’s see. How about “An Apple account should not be a requirement for all iPhone users, or even iPhone developers”. Yet again – against centralized app market stores in general, or just the Google one?

Where Google is getting into trouble is the irresistible desire to improperly use their success in one area as a club to force people to do things their way in another.

A lot of supposition here, unsupported by your previous arguments. If you don’t mind, please define the “club” being using only by Google/Big Company. Define how this mythical thing is being “improperly” used by Google/Big Company. Most importantly, if you could, show how Google/Big Company’s improper use of the club will “force people to do things their way”. I only ask because [a] all your statements above really could apply to any company that does similar business on the internet, and [b] In each case above, I can go to a competitor without issues or consequences*.

In your post, you haven’t so much made a case against Google, as much as against certain business practices and applications on the internet (tracking, email, maps, app stores, etc) in general. You’ve then taken these items and made Google the bad guy in spite of being “one of many” in the same space simply because they are “bigger”. You didn’t define how “bigger” is worse then doing the same thing when you are “smaller” outside of the flawed argument that Google is bad because they are everywhere and can’t be avoided. This argument doesn’t seem to hold water as per the rebuttals above. Yes, Google is big, but I am under no obligation to use them at all*. If I do decide to use Google, I certainly can change my mind later and use a competing service without fear of retribution or negative consequences.

* The sole exception I can think of being the platform centric Google centralized application store. However, even here I now have another choice – the Amazon Appstore for Android. However, based on your arguments, I’m not sure if I should avoid Amazon: they are big, they require I sign up with them, I will get emails from them, I will be forced to use their downloader, and they will track me. Is it ok to use Amazon? Do I need to determine an absolute measure of “bigness” to determine which way to go?

To help aleviate your fear of Google, here are some helpful tips:
[1] If you don’t want to be tracked by Google Analytics, Ad Sense, or *anyone*, there isn’t a high technical or implementation hurdle to make this so on your browser.
[2] If you don’t want to use gmail, don’t. No one will shoot a dog (sorry Mad magazine) if you choose to use any one of what must be hundreds of mail service providers.
[3] You can use any mapping application you like! Crazy, but true. I happen to use Google maps, and I highly recommend it – tons of features, and easy to leverage API’s. But the choice is yours.
[4] If you buy a mobile/smart device that has an application store, you most likely WILL have to sign up to a specific vendor in most cases to use that store (Apple, Blackberry, etc). The only exception I can think of at this time (not counting grey market) is the Android platform – Amazon has an app store for droid applications.