Kurts

They're not "sneaking ads as email": http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/06/ads-in-gmails-promo...

I think it's fair to assume that HN is a fairly technical community and could manage such a feat on its own, so these: "here is how to switch from [insert Google service] to its competitor" posts strike me as karma-bait (and they do get votes).

As to these ads you're so troubled by:

Twitter ads look like tweets, Facebook ads look like Facebook posts, and of course search ads look like search results, at least in Gmail they have their own designated area. They replace the webclip ads when the "promotions" tab is enabled http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/06/ads-in-gmails-promo...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6069372

Also quoting some random Marco Arment anti-Google troll as though it has some weight or authority doesn't help your point.

Twitter ads look like tweets, Facebook ads look like Facebook posts, and of course search ads look like search results, at least in Gmail they have their own designated area.

They replace the webclip ads when the "promotions" tab is enabled: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/06/ads-in-gmails-promo...

Yeah but he doesn't have the password, unless somehow he hacked Google's servers for that specific one. It's the combination of both that makes it unlikely, there are far easier/better/more practical/likely ways of penetrating wifi networks.

It's more than "unlikely", it's ridiculous. It's the longest way around and possibly the stupidest route to get onto someone's Wifi network.

You can turn it off if you like: Settings > Privacy > Backup my data, backup application data, Wi-fi passwords, and other settings to Google servers.

Every few months someone rediscovers that Google also syncs Wifi credentials between devices (perhaps when logging into a new device and finding it tethers itself nicely to the network on its own).

It's a matter of convenience, Wifi passwords are only applicable at a certain range, and other restrictions could be applied even then (like hardware whitelisting etc) it's not your bank credentials.

Here's a reddit discussion (from 2 years ago!) http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/g6ctt/just_upgraded...