LEAVING GOOGLE: A LONG, PAINFUL, BUT VITAL DETOX LOG
May 6, 2025
I was a full-time YouTuber. I’ve known burnout, platform opacity, and total invisibility. I now use a dumbphone, host my own files, and publish outside of the Google ecosystem. It’s been 2 years. Here’s what I’ve learned.
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I'm French. And like many, I live with a digital past deeply rooted in YouTube. I’m still subscribed to channels I’ve followed for over ten years: Joueur du Grenier, Formula 1 shows… These are things I can’t find anywhere else. That’s what makes YouTube so hard to leave: it’s not just a tool, it’s a collective memory. I watched a few teasers on Nebula. It’s super creative, really well produced. I want to subscribe, especially for documentary content like ColdFusion. But there’s no Formula 1. No let’s plays of Pole Position 2 on Super NES. And above all: watching content in a foreign language requires effort. Effort I want to make — to detox. To leave Google.
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ANDROID, DRIVE, CHROME: THE DIGITAL HOUSECLEANING BEGINS
I left Android two years ago. I now use a basic Alcatel dumbphone, and I’m incredibly happy. I can browse just fine from my PC — why have five devices at home to do the same thing? I’m not someone who scrolls in bed. I also left Google Drive. It took time. I first upgraded my PC storage, then invested in a Western Digital Home Cloud NAS. I know the experts say you need three backups "in case of global war or fire," but two is enough. Anyway, services like Canva, Shutterstock, and Envato already keep copies of the files you’ve bought. That’s already cloud storage — free and redundant. Western Digital reconciled me with NAS systems. Unlike Synology or QNAP, their approach seemed more honest. And the benefit of self-hosting is that after two years, you’ve paid off the device. Renting always costs more in the long run, whether it’s a server, a car, or a house.
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THE INVISIBLE ADDICTION: CHROME AND PASSWORDS
Chrome was a nightmare to leave. All my passwords were stored there. Without Chrome, I felt like I had lost access to my own life. By luck — or bad luck — a bug forced me to clear the cache. I lost everything. That was the lifeline life threw at me. I took it. Grabbed my coat. Moved to Brave. But Brave’s search engine didn’t win me over. The results were too different from Google’s. So yes, even today, I still use Google Search. But I plan to give Brave another shot.
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ANALYTICS, ADS: WHAT HIDES BEHIND THE INTERFACE
I’ve never used Google Analytics. The interface is built to make you lose your grip — worse than PayPal’s terms of service. It’s designed so that you leave everything on default. Including the settings that let Google build a profile on you. In 2024, I paid for Google Ads campaigns. Can’t complain about the results: Google treats its advertisers well. But from now on, I plan to try Brave Ads. You can target low-CPC countries — and honestly, an African visitor is worth just as much as a French or British one. It’s all about the metrics.
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YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON MY BLOG: THE FINAL TRAP
I still embed YouTube videos on my blog. I shouldn’t. I should transcribe them, cite them, and cut the link. Why? Because when I visit my own site, and later go to YouTube, I get suggestions related to videos that appeared on my site. Even without clicking. Google picks up every embedded link. It’s a horror movie. Sounds paranoid? Maybe. But I was a full-time YouTuber for 18 months. I’ve known precariousness. Burnout. A boss with no email, no address, no phone number in France. I went through a professional humiliation that scarred me forever.
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||#HSLdiary #HSLmichael
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