originally, google's primary purpose wasn't harvesting your data-- it was search and ads. then there was email. then some other stuff would come and go, and they started hoarding personal data because it made their ads better and their search better. eventually, it became the prevalent underlayer of all of their business, but that's been over the course of over 20 years.

but it didn't start that way.

Feels like we’d have to go back to before 2008 for the Google you’re thinking of, if it ever even existed.

well, yeah, lol. google and the world existed before 2008, you know...

Yes, before 2008. Google was a breath of fresh air against all things corporaty. There was a time when people said "anything good for google is good for the internet" (https://broadbandpolitics.com/2008/07/18/whats-good-for-google-is-good-for-the-internet/). They were instrumental in pushing the boundaries of web 2.0. Google maps with its seamless tiling or auto complete for search results or desktop search were all nothing short of magical at that time. Gone are those days though..