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There's a big upside to Google One Tap. It makes users sign up for your product like crazy. I recently added it to a SaaS web app I'm working on, and the numbe

There's a big upside to Google One Tap. It makes users sign up for your product like crazy. I recently added it to a SaaS web app I'm working on, and the number of new sign ups went up 8x overnight. You don't necessarily have to create an account to use the minimal functionalty of our app, but after signing up you do get some perks, and we get a way to communicate with the user through email. So I think it can be beneficial for both parties.

sneak 1y ago
…until the user loses access to their Google account with no recourse and you have no secondary way to authenticate them.
- tomschwiha 1y ago
  I personally have my personal email as Google account email, so even when I lose my access to google I am still in control of my domain (and email).
  - edoceo 1y ago
    And still couldn't sign-in-with-google. On an email linked that way, so no password recovery. Would likely be a new account - with bonus "that address is already in use" problem.
    - tomschwiha 1y ago
      I agree, there may be an additional step necessary if the page doesn't handle this case already, but this way you can still prove (more easily) ownership to the support.
- skybrian 1y ago
  Also true if I use my gmail address. I'll confess that for many websites I don't care that much. Depending on a password manager would be better, though. Semi-related anecdote: I lost my Reddit account to a cryptocurrency spammer due to a weak password and had to create another, so I lost my preferred username. Annoying but not a huge deal. (Reddit did freeze the old account but wouldn't give it back.)
  - bravesoul2 1y ago
    No. You just cant password reset if you lose access to email. You can still log in.
    - JambalayaJimbo 1y ago
      The email is ultimately the second factor that lets you make important changes to the account in many cases. For example, changing your password. It's more important than the password in nearly every security critical account I have.
    - joecool1029 1y ago
      This is not always the case. Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email. Happened with my email pointed at a .tk domain and I had to call freenom a bunch to get the domain back.
      - reddalo 1y ago
        >Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email. I still remember when you could create Reddit accounts without an email...
        nojs 1y ago
        Brace yourself: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202506/reddit-considers-world-for-proof-of-personhood-age-verification-report https://www.biometricupdate.com/202506/reddit-considers-worl...
        immibis 1y ago
        Since the last few years Reddit has basically just become Facebook 2.0 and it's not even worth using at all. They probably got acquired by private equity or something.
  - layer8 1y ago
    That’s why you shouldn’t be using a Gmail address, and instead have your own domain for email.
BLKNSLVR 1y ago
Big upside to the provider, not necessarily the consumer. Perplexity has a "sign in with Google" pop up that loads late, often when I've already started typing in my query, and thus blocks the rest of my typing, negatively affecting the UX of the service. So I looked up how to get the fuck rid of it and added that method to uBlock Origin, and now I'm a happy (freeloading) chappy.
- ehnto 1y ago
  The delayed focus capture is the most annoying part. I'll be in the middle of typing or scrolling with the keyboard when it steals focus. I type pretty fast, so sometimes I've punched in a bunch of text before realising it all vanished into the popups frame. Since shifting to firefox it's not a big deal as I have more control, vimium can stop focus being stolen and ublock can block the in web versions of the popups. Which if Googlers are reading, I made the swap after a decade of Chrome use because of your continued anti-user, anti-privacy stewardship of the product. Your trajectory is obvious. I hope the products leadership gets the message some day, but I suspect it's financially working out just fine.
buzzerbetrayed 1y ago
> Beneficial to both parties Ah yes, because who doesn’t want more emails from a sites they’ve visited one time
skydhash 1y ago
Do they pay for anything? I'm all for reducing login friction. But that popup is like people that accost you in the street trying to enlist you into their cult.
38 1y ago
[dead]
Sophira 1y ago
You're assuming that the user actually wants to sign up. In reality, it's likely that they're just clicking "Continue" in order to get rid of the dialog and couldn't care less about a signup.
- CalRobert 1y ago
  In fairness, they never said they thought the user signups were intentional..
  - rvnx 1y ago
    Behind it, add one-click Stripe “free trial” and you boosted your revenues at zero cost. Maybe even call this button “Accept all”, like these cookie banners
- tonyhart7 1y ago
  it still ads up in metric yooo, who tf didnt like when the metric numbers goes up???? also you must understand, most people are dumb as shit if you not showing it to the face, then prolly would not notice that's why big tech not listening to HN user base because they know that its hard to fool nerd
- bayindirh 1y ago
  But the number goes up, the line goes up. VCs like that, it's growth!!! P.S.: This is obvious irony, I don't support this DataGrab(TM), fyi.
- IshKebab 1y ago
  Users want to use the site and don't care whether or not they are signed up. They do care about going through tedious registration forms and email verification codes. That's why sign-ups go up so much - users know they won't have to deal with the registration tedium.
  - al_borland 1y ago
    They trade that for the tedium of dealing with being automatically added to email lists for sites they don’t even remember signing up for and only used one time. All the spam email is why I’m very picky where I choose to register.
qwertox 1y ago
> So I think it can be beneficial for both parties. No. Because those who don't want to sign up do get bothered by that popup which also reminds them of the fact that Google just tracked that visit and wants you to use Google to sign up on that page. The chuzpe it takes to do that, from part of the website owner and Google...
forkerenok 1y ago
> the number of new sign ups went up 8x overnight. What's the number if you adjust for quality of signups? E.g. how many people convert and how many people stay on and convert later.
immibis 1y ago
You're both right. If an account on your service is completely meaningless, I'd rather press one button than type my email, choose a password and go through a stupid email confirmation workflow. Also, it's very annoying that you need an account at all.
meindnoch 1y ago
>and we get a way to communicate with the user through email. Don't call your spam "communication".
tsoukase 1y ago
Last month I subscribed to DAZN TV through Google in order to watch a FIFA world football semifinal match. I deleted the third party allowance a week later. The final was free globally.

sneak 1y ago

…until the user loses access to their Google account with no recourse and you have no secondary way to authenticate them.

tomschwiha 1y ago
I personally have my personal email as Google account email, so even when I lose my access to google I am still in control of my domain (and email).
- edoceo 1y ago
  And still couldn't sign-in-with-google. On an email linked that way, so no password recovery. Would likely be a new account - with bonus "that address is already in use" problem.
  - tomschwiha 1y ago
    I agree, there may be an additional step necessary if the page doesn't handle this case already, but this way you can still prove (more easily) ownership to the support.
skybrian 1y ago
Also true if I use my gmail address. I'll confess that for many websites I don't care that much. Depending on a password manager would be better, though. Semi-related anecdote: I lost my Reddit account to a cryptocurrency spammer due to a weak password and had to create another, so I lost my preferred username. Annoying but not a huge deal. (Reddit did freeze the old account but wouldn't give it back.)
- bravesoul2 1y ago
  No. You just cant password reset if you lose access to email. You can still log in.
  - JambalayaJimbo 1y ago
    The email is ultimately the second factor that lets you make important changes to the account in many cases. For example, changing your password. It's more important than the password in nearly every security critical account I have.
  - joecool1029 1y ago
    This is not always the case. Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email. Happened with my email pointed at a .tk domain and I had to call freenom a bunch to get the domain back.
    - reddalo 1y ago
      >Reddit sometimes locks the account until you verify it or reset the password by email. I still remember when you could create Reddit accounts without an email...
      - nojs 1y ago
        Brace yourself: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202506/reddit-considers-world-for-proof-of-personhood-age-verification-report https://www.biometricupdate.com/202506/reddit-considers-worl...
      - immibis 1y ago
        Since the last few years Reddit has basically just become Facebook 2.0 and it's not even worth using at all. They probably got acquired by private equity or something.
- layer8 1y ago
  That’s why you shouldn’t be using a Gmail address, and instead have your own domain for email.

BLKNSLVR 1y ago

Big upside to the provider, not necessarily the consumer. Perplexity has a "sign in with Google" pop up that loads late, often when I've already started typing in my query, and thus blocks the rest of my typing, negatively affecting the UX of the service. So I looked up how to get the fuck rid of it and added that method to uBlock Origin, and now I'm a happy (freeloading) chappy.

ehnto 1y ago
The delayed focus capture is the most annoying part. I'll be in the middle of typing or scrolling with the keyboard when it steals focus. I type pretty fast, so sometimes I've punched in a bunch of text before realising it all vanished into the popups frame. Since shifting to firefox it's not a big deal as I have more control, vimium can stop focus being stolen and ublock can block the in web versions of the popups. Which if Googlers are reading, I made the swap after a decade of Chrome use because of your continued anti-user, anti-privacy stewardship of the product. Your trajectory is obvious. I hope the products leadership gets the message some day, but I suspect it's financially working out just fine.

buzzerbetrayed 1y ago

> Beneficial to both parties Ah yes, because who doesn’t want more emails from a sites they’ve visited one time

skydhash 1y ago

Do they pay for anything? I'm all for reducing login friction. But that popup is like people that accost you in the street trying to enlist you into their cult.

38 1y ago

[dead]

Sophira 1y ago

You're assuming that the user actually wants to sign up. In reality, it's likely that they're just clicking "Continue" in order to get rid of the dialog and couldn't care less about a signup.

CalRobert 1y ago
In fairness, they never said they thought the user signups were intentional..
- rvnx 1y ago
  Behind it, add one-click Stripe “free trial” and you boosted your revenues at zero cost. Maybe even call this button “Accept all”, like these cookie banners
tonyhart7 1y ago
it still ads up in metric yooo, who tf didnt like when the metric numbers goes up???? also you must understand, most people are dumb as shit if you not showing it to the face, then prolly would not notice that's why big tech not listening to HN user base because they know that its hard to fool nerd
bayindirh 1y ago
But the number goes up, the line goes up. VCs like that, it's growth!!! P.S.: This is obvious irony, I don't support this DataGrab(TM), fyi.
IshKebab 1y ago
Users want to use the site and don't care whether or not they are signed up. They do care about going through tedious registration forms and email verification codes. That's why sign-ups go up so much - users know they won't have to deal with the registration tedium.
- al_borland 1y ago
  They trade that for the tedium of dealing with being automatically added to email lists for sites they don’t even remember signing up for and only used one time. All the spam email is why I’m very picky where I choose to register.

qwertox 1y ago

> So I think it can be beneficial for both parties. No. Because those who don't want to sign up do get bothered by that popup which also reminds them of the fact that Google just tracked that visit and wants you to use Google to sign up on that page. The chuzpe it takes to do that, from part of the website owner and Google...

forkerenok 1y ago

> the number of new sign ups went up 8x overnight. What's the number if you adjust for quality of signups? E.g. how many people convert and how many people stay on and convert later.

immibis 1y ago

You're both right. If an account on your service is completely meaningless, I'd rather press one button than type my email, choose a password and go through a stupid email confirmation workflow. Also, it's very annoying that you need an account at all.

meindnoch 1y ago

>and we get a way to communicate with the user through email. Don't call your spam "communication".

tsoukase 1y ago

Last month I subscribed to DAZN TV through Google in order to watch a FIFA world football semifinal match. I deleted the third party allowance a week later. The final was free globally.