April Glaser for Slate:

As [Eric Schmidt] walks away from the internet leviathan he once shepherded, it’s worth reflecting on the web he helped to build, and the various discomforts it has erased. (Not for nothing did he once say that Google’s policy is to “get right up to the creepy line.”) It’s one where free services are powered by advertising and paid for with our data, a bargain that fundamentally reshaped our relationship with corporations, particularly (but not only) large internet companies. Google’s customers are advertisers. The people who use many of its most popular services are the products, with advertisers paying for access to our attention. YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, Search—all are free for the low price of your privacy.