I realise that Google places ads in the native Gmail environment. However, when using a third party front end to embed the Google services, how does the company make money off that? When I use Thunderbird to access Gmail or the Google Calendar or when I map my Google Drive to the file explorer, how can Google profit from this kind of use?
Metadata.
It knows who you are talking to from the to and from fields, possibly the context based on the subject, if the do scan the email contents then they will know what you are interested in.
Gather that info with your search history it can sell targeted advertising.
So, it’s basically a loss leader in this scenario to feed other sevices like the ad network?
Yes. About 75% of Google’s revenue is from ads. Most (all?) of their free products exist to feed the advertising business in one way or another.
For personal Gmail yes.
They’re scanning the email contents.
and your google drive contents.
and everything else you send through their services.
That’s why I am no longer using their services like Gmail and Google Maps. I jumped tot alternatives, much recommended.
What are you using in lieu of Google Maps?
I have been using Organic Maps for many years. They are offline-first, and use OpenStreetMap for the data. Since it’s OpenStreetMap, quality might vary by country and even city.
If you’re looking for more commercial app, HERE WeGo / Here Maps has traffic and online accounts.
I use GoogleStreetMap for GPS, I’ve replaced Gmail with StartMail and instead of Google Calendar I use TimeTree for now. Might need to find a real privacy related calendar, anyone suggestions?
I was so confused by your first one until I clicked the link and realized you meant “OpenStreetView” instead of “GoogleStreetView” 🤣