zett - 5:22 am on Apr 8, 2009 (gmt 0)

WW is a place where a lot of controversial discussion happens, also covering Google. This does not come as a surprise given Google's market dominance.

So, I was very surprised when I noticed for the very first time today that WW is apparently using Google Analytics to gather usage statistics. Maybe thanks to a slower Internet connection, maybe through a bottleneck at Google, but for the fraction of a second I saw that the browser was calling something on Google Analytics. I double checked the source code of the page, and yes - there it was: a call to Google Analytics.

Which is something I can not support.

IMO it is a very bad idea to use Google Analytics on WW. No, I don't want Google to be able to track what I write on WW. No, I don't want Google to be able to assign my posts on WW to my websites and to my name. No, I do not any longer feel safe to say anything negative about Google here. Yes, I think this violates my freedom of speech here.

And before the Google fanboys jump in to tell me that I still can write what I want - I know. Don't worry. You won. I am taking the consequences. I will end my active participation in WW now. Maybe I'll continue to lurk, but forget about me posting here. It's been an awesome time, and I am going to miss the forums a lot.

Thanks to all, and goodbye.

[Now off to cleaning all the cookies and stuff from Google.]