The Price of Free Google Report.

Proton analyzed over 54,000 demographic profiles using 2025 ad auction data to estimate what advertisers pay to reach different types of Americans. The range is much wider than you might expect.

The average American generates about $1,605 a year in advertising value. A 35- to 44-year-old man in Bozeman, MT, without children, using a desktop and making high-value corporate searches, generates an estimated $17,929.30. An 18- to 24-year-old father in Fort Smith, AR, using an Android phone and making low-value searches, generates $31.05.

That’s a 577x difference between two people using the same free service.

  • XLE@piefed.social
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    7 hours ago

    This article eerily reminds me of myself. I just moved to West Virginia after having a child.

    Proton Mail’s Born Private lets parents opt a child into an end-to-end encrypted environment from the start

    Strange place for an ad for reserving an email address (for up to 15 years?) but I think I’m good, thanks. Baby formula comes first.

    • Rioting Pacifist@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Also their “e2e” is only in the browser, which is only e2e if they don’t get a warrant, at which point it’s trivial for them to get your browser to decrypt everything for them.

      I wouldn’t mind Proton if:

      1. Their fans weren’t so annoying
      2. They didn’t market themselves as more secure than they are
      • XLE@piefed.social
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        4 hours ago

        At least you’re allowed to criticize them here, they haven’t permeated anything to the level of Reddit communities where their official statements are given priority