How to Keep Google From Owning Your Online Life

Leave Google’s planet of intertwined products and services, and you’ll be surprised at how many strong alternatives you’ll find

Google is all but impossible to avoid--it's also a huge collector of personal data. WSJ's David Pierce left the bubble of intertwined products and services, and found many comparable apps and services. Photo/Video: Emily Prapuolenis/The Wall Street Journal

David Pierce

May 8, 2018 12:02 p.m. ET

About 10 minutes after I decided to try temporarily removing Google from my life—an experiment I hoped would illuminate how much Alphabet’s giant dominates online existence—I messed it all up.

I spotted a video of Donald Glover, co-star of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” giving a Millennium Falcon tour. Even on my most careful guard, I still clicked the red play button. A few seconds in, I realized I was watching YouTube—Google’s YouTube.

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