Eschatonic - 2:54 pm on Mar 22, 2011 (gmt 0)

I cannot believe that we have to justify a business model that has been working since before they formed the company!

I hate to state the obvious, but a working business model does not necessarily mean a Google-friendly business model. When I say this I don't mean "Google of ten years ago-friendly", I mean "Google right now-friendly".

Fundamentally Google's priorities are based around providing what they perceive to be a quality search experience. This drive has only been intensified recently as they've come under more pressure from their competition, the press, and legislative bodies. To combat these pressures they have made a philosophical commitment to a certain school of web design and are prepared to enforce it. If you don't like their terms, they aren't bothered if you simply choose to leave them and go elsewhere. In fact this is an ideal solution for them, since they don't have to deal with people who have differing objectives for the business relationship.

Having a poor experience with their support team is one thing, and that's certainly something that Google need to work on. But to them, you're not a customer - you're a partner, and you have your obligations towards them if you want to maintain that partnership. They provide you a service on the basis that you abide by certain conditions, and a lengthy business relationship doesn't necessarily mean they will treat you as a special case.