Comment by usernew

I've said it once, and I've said it again for well over a decade. The only google account recovery is creating a new account in 5 minutes. If doing that does not restore the full extent of the purpose for which you were using google's services, you're doing it wrong.

Google accounts serve one purpose: if you are trying to use a google resource that requires an account. Example: save some marked places on google maps.

I can't think of other examples. As the article states, google's explanation for their user-hostile policies, is that at their scale, there is no other option. The other option is, provide services at a scale you can support, and if going larger is not affordable, then you are not able to go larger.

Imagine going into a store. You purchase a microwave. You get it home, open the box, and in the box is a dead cat. You take it back to the store, and there's no one to talk to and no customer service desk. You walk back out of the store with your dead cat in the box, and when you show the receipt to the guy in the store, he accuses you of stealing a microwave because the receipt is from yesterday. No, he won't look inside the box, there's another customer walking out whose receipt he needs to check. Then they ban you from all their stores for trying to steal a microwave, because they have you on camera walking.

You write a letter to corporate, and they tell you that at their scale, they cannot have a customer service desk, or hire another receipt checker.

The thing is, there's actually no real reason to use google for anything. You don't need to ban it from your life, you just don't use it for anything that needs an account with data you need to keep. I use google products for maps and to chromecast to my tv. I use it for search. When I get a new machine or browser, that account just gets recreated because I don't bother storing their password or login name. Like for this site.