this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026
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The Price of Free Google Report.

Proton analyzed over 54,000 demographic profiles using 2025 ad auction data to estimate what advertisers pay to reach different types of Americans. The range is much wider than you might expect.

The average American generates about $1,605 a year in advertising value. A 35- to 44-year-old man in Bozeman, MT, without children, using a desktop and making high-value corporate searches, generates an estimated $17,929.30. An 18- to 24-year-old father in Fort Smith, AR, using an Android phone and making low-value searches, generates $31.05.

That’s a 577x difference between two people using the same free service.

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[–] Crystalbound@lemmy.world 63 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (34 children)

What defines advertising value to calculate this?

I dont buy anything online, Amazon or otherwise. And I dont engage with any ads unless by mistake. I suppose there is value in market research itself but nobody is making any sales revenue off somebody like me.

[–] sznowicki@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago (12 children)

How do you search for a restaurant or a barber when you’re in a city you’ve never been before? Or how do you rent a car on an airport in another country? You ask for a telephone book?

[–] Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 months ago (8 children)

No OP, but I have never done any of those things in your example.

[–] MichaelScotch@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Bullshit. Are you my 93 year old grandmother?

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