That’s it, Google and Facebook have launched the first salvos. The two American giants did not wait to be named explicitly by the CRTC under the recently passed Bill C-18 to announce their intention to remove Canadian media from their pages. But, as they say, it takes two to tango.
After all, Google and Meta are in the same situation as digital media: they have to attract people to their products to make money. People who are irritated by their behavior can therefore make their displeasure known by ceasing to visit them.
An Internet without Google or Meta, what does it look like? Here is an overview, in five points.
Social network (not too much)
Yes, there is life outside of social media. Instagram, TikTok and the rest have created formulas that are highly addictive, but it is possible to get rid of them. It can be done suddenly or in small doses, by falling back on more playful and less invasive networks. A good example is the French network BeReal, which has been noticed since its launch in 2020.
BeReal alerts its users every day and invites them to post one photo at a time. It’s a fun alternative to Instagram and TikTok, for that matter. But the app has started to scatter in recent months and has lost a lot of users. Other emerging social networks, such as Bluesky and Mastodon, can fill a need for people who primarily want to share current information.
Organize information
Google’s Chrome browser currently captures 62% of the web browser market. Its presence by default in the Android mobile system helps Chrome to impose itself in such an overwhelming way, but several Internet users also use it on their PC or Mac.
Safari, from Apple, is the second most used browser. Then come Edge, from Microsoft, then Opera and Firefox. The latter two are independent of the tech giants. Of the two, Firefox is the one that most blurs the trail you leave behind on the Web, which makes life enormously difficult for ad trackers from Google, Meta, Amazon and others.
For a few dollars each month, Firefox provides access to a VPN service that completely hides your Internet address from the sites you visit.
Search and find
If a browser is the gateway to the Web, a search engine is its directory. These days, 93% of web engine searches by internet users go through Google. It is enormous. But there are still several other search engines. Bing, that of Microsoft, accounts for not quite 3% of this market. Its very recent integration of artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT could interest Internet users who seek textual answers to their questions, rather than websites.
Internet users who want to protect their privacy more firmly can opt for an engine like DuckDuckGo, which does not track its users. It’s not the same as private browsing, since the sites you visit from DuckDuckGo have access to your information, but it’s a start.
Independent messaging
The days when Hotmail ruled the world of email are long gone. These days, messaging apps from Apple and Google dominate. They are used by 87% of Internet users to read their emails. Next comes Outlook, from Microsoft, which also includes Hotmail and Live addresses.
Many Internet users concerned about the confidentiality of their mailboxes have adopted the Swiss service ProtonMail. This service provides a free email address and 500 megabytes of storage. E-mails are encrypted right from the outbox, which ensures optimal protection against unwanted snooping.
Unleashed Cartography
80% of people who look up a street address on their mobile using a mapping app use Google Maps. There are few alternatives. The most popular is Apple Maps, which has improved a lot in recent years. But it is reserved for owners of an Apple device.
Waze, another Google subsidiary, is used about as much as Apple Maps. It is above all a road navigation application intended for motorists who want to avoid traffic jams. Finally, the open and free OpenStreetMap application helps you find your way around, even if you don’t see the live traffic situation there.