Obviously, but what are the means to that end? All public companies are in the quest of increasing shareholder value - some of them do this by selling tobacco, others by monetizing user data (in other words, ad services) and others by providing developer tools and platforms.

And? Vanguard does things to increase the return for their shareholders. Should I not invest with them?

Actually no. Vanguard has a different arrangement from pretty much any company in that it is owned by the funds it manages. As such any return vanguard earns for shareholders is money they charged the shareholders in the first place. At best it is a zero sum game, and more likely it is inefficient.

Your statement is true and completely uninteresting. We’re talking about how companies pursue this goal.

But that is an obvious observation. Almost a tautology. The question is how they choose to go about doing it. One company plans to keep selling me off to advertisers. Another plans to provide me with software.

> One company plans to keep selling me off to advertisers. Another plans to provide me with software.

That's not exactly true. Both companies have shown that they _will_ switch to selling something different when they believe they can make more money that way.

Also, both these companies spy on you while using their products, and both sell that data to their advertisers. It's not just Google.

You should use both their products as you want, when they help you. My point is mainly not to trust that the company behind the developer products is some kind of a good actor. They will sell you out when it fits them.

Microsoft tracks you for advertising purposes as well.