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Comment by digi_owl | Hacker News Reader

Yep. You do not have an account on each, you have a Google account that allows you to access all of google's services. And once it is closed, it is game over.

Most people didn't notice this until G+ hit the net, and some kids used their gmail account (set up with parental knowledge and support) got closed because G+ found out they were under 13.

Others have discovered that if their app on Google Play gets into trouble, bye bye gmail etc.

It is a downright hamfisted system, and likely an outcome of Google's drive to automate all the tings...

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Yes. That's just one reason why I'll never use Gmail.

Agreed. Switching away from gmail was one of the best things I’ve done in recent years.

I’m not sure this is entirely true across all services. I’m banned from AdWords (long story, I was slinging açaí berries around 2008 when I was 16...), but my account works for all other google services.

Were you buying ads or hosting them? They're a whole lot nicer to ad buyers.

And this is specifically why, as I select for my biz an upgraded email service provider, even though Google/GMail has a solid service & good prices, they are completely disqualified.

Yeah. I am personally abandoning GMail specifically because I want to be able to upload stuff to YouTube.

You know a company is mismanaging things when they're doing things that are against their own interests.

> I am personally abandoning GMail specifically because I want to be able to upload stuff to YouTube

Can't you just make another account for videos?

Google will work out that the accounts are operated by the same person and forcibly link them together. They may then decide that you are abusively trying to evade their restrictions and permanently ban all of your accounts.

Wait really? Any links on this? I don't recall hearing of this happening.

My accounts were created separately in the early days of YouTube and they got linked against my will. It doesn’t show up as my gmail account in YouTube because I kept rejecting their “please merge” requests, but besides the display name, they’re essentially merged and I have to log in with my gmail account. I don’t use my gmail for anything else anymore so I don’t care, but it was frustrating back when it happened. I know it’s just anecdotal and not a proper reference like you requested..

Oh, but you're talking about a pre-Google YouTube account being merged with a Google account, not two Google accounts being linked, right? Those are pretty different things.

Yeah

That's complete nonsense. Have any hard evidence to share?

There was a post on here (HN) a while ago about an entire company account getting suspended because Google had linked an employee of that company to his personal google account which was being used to re-sign Android apps for redistribution.

It’s an extreme example, but if that account is true, google definitely have automated tooling to link distinct accounts.

I can’t actually imagine any reason why they wouldn’t. It feels like something they’d need at their scale.

I actually have a few gmail accounts that are "Youtube banned" for same content ID thing but the mail/drive/whatever part of it still works. So the "Google account wide" ban seems pretty rare and more motivated than just 3 copyright strikes.

Thanks for this data point!

That's nonsense. They have banned the entire org in this case, not linked accounts that weren't before.

Actually, it is not because I particularly care about uploading videos to YouTube (never done it, no particular plans to do it), but with the fact that Google specifically and forcibly links everything.

Sure, in some ways, the fusion is very convenient.

But I've read a few too many credible stories about how a loyal Google customer does some innocuous action that happens to set off one of Google's triggers, and is instantly banned from the entire ecosystem.

Google's complete lack of customer support, and indeed hostility to the concept of ever being reachable by or accountable to a user just makes it worse.

Bottome line; Google is ok for casual use, but as a biz, I'll never touch them, and advise others to avoid like the plague.

>It is a downright hamfisted system, and likely an outcome of Google's drive to automate all the tings...

Google's drive... Had to read that twice, for a moment I got really confused about my cloud storage subscription!

Given the discussion, just make sure that all files you have saved in Google Drive are also available to you elsewhere lest Google get mad at you.

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