True deGoogling is impossible without sacrificing too much

Most deGooglers give up when it comes to the ultimate choice – leaving YouTube for good. However, if you want some more privacy and peace of mind, there are many things you can do to limit data leeching, selling to advertisers, and being bombarded with their unwanted creations.

There are solutions that allow you to block Google services on your devices completely. The issue is that most deGooglers find them too strict.

For example, developers behind the no-google filter list for private DNS (Domain Name System) solutions are constantly asked to leave some gaps. A recently opened issue by one GitHub user asks for “a version to block Google except YouTube, please.”

Similar inquiries by deGooglers were posted six years ago.

“This is a nice idea, but the one thing I haven't been able to divorce myself from is YouTube,” the cry reads.

“Blocking YouTube from my network would mean cutting myself off from a large portion of the world.”

However, the no-Google project was created to “protect yourself from Google’s surveillance,” and excluding YouTube, the second-ranked website behind Google.com itself, would render the claim meaningless.

“YouTube. I'll keep using it,” yet another deGoogler shared.

For years, privacy evangelists have been campaigning to block access to GAFAM, FAANG, or other letter combinations of big tech companies’ names, as they make “us pay for their services with our freedoms.” The deGoogling videos have gotten traction recently.

My personal relationship with big tech platforms is somewhat complicated. On the one hand, their services are often superior to the competition in terms of user experience. And I like them very much. On the other hand, I hate how the companies are making money from me.

So, I, too, decided to get what I paid for – nothing from Google. Of course, I failed. And I knew I'd fail before even starting. Leaving Google or any other big tech platform is nearly impossible. But here, what might stick and contribute to your privacy and agency over what you see online?

Cold turkey doomed to fail

Even if you delete all your accounts, install an alternative browser and apps (if you're an Android user, you’re already doomed), and change your search engine, you’re still exposed to Google.

More than half of the world uses Android. Maybe you’re one of them. Probably more than half of apps use Google APIs and Cloud services no matter the platform. Many free apps rely on the large advertising network Google built and are motivated to track you anywhere you go. The more data they collect, the better profile they can build for targeted – better paid – ads.

This means that you can’t truly deGoogle yourself without making too many sacrifices. Try opening Uber. Whose maps are used there? And then you come to work, where everything is based on Google Workspace.

Most haven’t paid a cent to Google, yet Alphabet, Google's parent company, collects nearly $44 in revenues yearly for every living person on the planet, even including those without internet access. The number is probably closer to $100 per actual user.

Around 75% of revenues come from advertising, meaning that instead of being treated like a customer, you’re basically a commodity that’s being sold to advertisers.

For me, the decoupling started a year ago when it was clear that uBlock Origin would no longer work on Chrome and that there wouldn’t be a true alternative. I value my ad-blocking software more than my web browsing software, so I knew that I would have to switch, so I started preparations early.

When the time came to replace my old phone, I switched to an iPhone because Android relies on Google for most of its functionality, including security updates. I tried my luck with custom ‘de-googled’ firmware in the past, but I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.

For any deGoogler, changing browser or search engine is the easiest. I installed Firefox on my devices, added uBlock Origin where it’s available, set my privacy settings to very strict, and my search engine to DuckDuckGo. I keep using them to this day. But I also keep my Google and YouTube accounts, and my Facebook profile.

A single button decapitates Google from an iPhone

I’ve been experimenting with the private DNS service NextDNS for quite some time now. It encrypts DNS queries and responses, making them invisible to your internet service provider. This eliminates most of the junk on the internet, such as malicious domains, trackers, and ad networks. NextDNS hasn’t sponsored or contributed to this article in any way.

This service includes filters for certain services, such as “No Facebook” and “No Google.” Any domain included in the filter list is inaccessible from the device—the DNS query will not return a valid IP address.

One switch in the settings, and your device will not have Google or Facebook. Gmail or Maps will stop working, and Google Search will become inaccessible. NextDNS’s filter lists removed most ads, trackers, and other unwanted content.

I deleted all Meta and Google apps. The single Google app that remains on my phone is Google Authenticator, which still generates codes without access to the internet. Signal replaced Messenger and other social media apps.

Removing all the most aggressive trackers from your phone makes perfect sense. That’s where your most sensitive data lives. Without access to my phone, some of the worst privacy offenders have limited access to my data. Apple is not perfect in that regard, but it has the best privacy practices in the industry.

For a while, you live with an urge to check your accounts on the phone. The device becomes silent and not engaging anymore. Gone is the anxiety of the dopamine rush when checking the phone. I actually enjoy the feeling.

Yet, I needed to get my YouTube and Gmail back, to check what’s happening on X or Facebook.

To keep myself sane, I switched to using most of the social media and other big tech services through a web browser on a computer. It allows the elimination of cross-site cookies and various scripts with a combination of an adblocker, Firefox’s settings, and DNS filtering. It also helps to do that in a planned manner and avoid doom scrolling. No app – no background activity. I also only access Amazon via a web browser.

This way I did not need to “delete Facebook account” (which I am still considering) to do “dopamine detox” or deGoogle completely to free some mental space. I manage my FOMO by having these services available, but also limit my exposure.

Of course, my privacy settings on Google, Meta, and other accounts are as strict as possible. I don’t allow companies to track my activity or even collect my YouTube history. This makes the website a bit dull and repetitive, as I constantly see the previously watched videos. Great. I want to reduce my addiction to YouTube.

Yeah, but what’s the point?

If you can’t avoid big tech, what else can you do? You can actively choose the least privacy-invading alternatives. You can limit your exposure when you interact with the services. You can give as little data as possible. You can demand that companies handle your data as strictly as possible.

What I managed to achieve, is sort of deGoogling part of my life:

• No social media and Google apps on my phone – if it’s urgent people can contact me on Signal. This eliminates the ability for apps to collect information about my location, contacts, communications, use of services, and others. They can’t serve me notifications, ads and other unwanted and potentially dangerous content.
• I only access social media on a web browser using adblocker and DNS filtering. This eliminates trackers, ads, and other unwanted and potentially dangerous content and limits the data provided to the services.
• I always check my privacy settings to see what else I can unselect. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver this week released a guide on what settings to change to “make yourself less valuable to Meta.” Look for similar ones on X, LinkedIn, Google, Amazon, and elsewhere. I don’t mind deleting all the activity and history where available. And I do this not because I want to “hurt” companies, but because I want to protect my data, my feeds, and my time from irrelevant intrusions.

Like many solutions, these are not perfect. But neither is a complete separation from modern technology.