Google Chrome - Is it Spyware?

Happy birthday Google. Yeah, a little late, but still...

And to celebrate, Google wants to share with you it's latest innovation in spying on users, and it's called Chrome.

I guess the toolbar has served it's purpose. It's been a good run, but there is only so much info they can get from it. Now the team at Google want to drill down further. Get into the psychographics of web users. Ventures in segmentation for marketing purposes have proven one of the most valuable means of understanding the consumer.

Acquiring this kind of purchase behaviour insight will allow them to tailor messages that are even more finely tuned and targeted to the end user.

Bridging this divide has always been a challenge, and in the end it has been labeled as spyware. Companies like Claria (AKA Gator) pioneered the idea, and while it makes sense to use, how you get the information is another matter.

So do you think Chrome is a glorified toolbar collecting user data? It would sure help AdWords sales!