Google: Nanny Interwebs OR Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket - UPDATED

Google evidently has been gradually rolling out the new requirement of forcing anyone with a business email address to put everything Google-ish into one account.

What this means is that if I am using my email, which is from work (owned by my husband and myself), for my Blogger account, which is owned by Google ... then I have to roll my blogs into the administrative account. Having agreed, of course, that my "administrator" is now privy to any and all information contained therein.

If not, well, you just can't get into your Blogger account, little miss. Not unless you get yourself a dandy new personal email (because I needed two to keep track of).

They didn't ask our business if we wanted this. Because we didn't.

They just rolled into town last week and started making us do this.

Notice that Google is rolling it out gradually, a la the way that Facebook makes changes. This allows the constant stream of problems and complaints about highhandedness to stay at a fairly low level.

That's why my blog wasn't updated until now. I was forced at gunpoint, essentially, to get a new email address so I could get into my blogs. Because even though Google owns Blogger, after account consolidation, you are told that, gee, sorry, but Blogger isn't one of those programs who we're consolidating now. But since you've done this, we won't let you into your old Blogger accounts. Here's a nice new one though. Wouldn't you like to begin a blog?

Aaargh! What incompetence.

Tom's theory is that their very large email clients want this protocol.

Fine.

But for those of us who don't, this is causing quite a few problems.

Legitimate business problems.

Such as ... Tom was required to get a G-mail account in order to be able to use Google Apps.

He went ahead and did all that Google asked to consolidate accounts.

Only to be told that Google Apps can't be rolled into everything. And that by agreeing to consolidate, he gave up the old account.

So all he has now, is access to fresh new Google Apps without any of the data which has been collected over time.

Oh, and also a nice little questionnaire where Google asked what project he'd like them to take on next.

Here's a thought.

How about letting us keep our eggs in those different baskets?

Or, failing that, actually finishing what you began by letting Google Apps be consolidated along with everything else?

UPDATE
I received this comment from a pal and I know it represents others with the same opinion so I'll just mention this here since I realize I may have combined too many issues to make my point clear:

Google is in Google is in business to make money. You may want to set up your own blog and pay a few shillings a month to a service that lets you have it your way. There are companies in place that can do this for you.

I buy my own books. My wife thinks I'm crazy. (She goes to the library) I believe the author (no matter how little he/she makes) deserves this. If you wanted to post all your writing in a newspaper you would have to pay for it. Who pays for the electricity that Google uses to make your blog available to the public?

No harm intended here: Why are you upset about the constraints being leveled on you for a free service? The internet is not FREE. Inexpensive? Yes.

Take a deep breath and investigate alternatives for your blog. You may want to look into WordPress templates and an ISP that you pay for.

It is not the constraints for the free blog ... it is the overall constraints of how they are treating business for this.

Ignore the blog issue.

Our problem is with the business issue. About my husband being required to get a G-mail address to use Google Apps, both of which he pays Google for.

And then being forced to move the Apps account, even though it was always part of the business.

And then not being able to access his old info ... etc.

And the highhandedness of forcing our business to have all those accounts combined whether we choose to do so or not. They do not allow a business to be benevolent should they desire and allow their employees to use their email addresses for whatever they choose.

They gave the businesses no choice. And then can't deliver on what they say they are doing.

That is the problem.

P.S. As for Blogger, my main problem was that even after I did what they wanted and consolidated accounts, they still wouldn't let me have access to my old info because, as they point out, they aren't set up to do that now. So I did just what they wanted and was shut out from access to their service. Just as with Apps.