# Google account 18 Hacker News commenters recommended Google account and 206 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 20 years (16 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend one login that syncs passwords, payments and settings across devices, with strong takeover protection. Critics warn automated bans and lockouts can cut people off without appeal. ## Why people recommend it - Syncs passwords, payments and settings (2 comments): "You can literally log into your Google account on first boot and everything is done for you, automatically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208298)) "One password to remember. And google syncs everything incl. password, even payments." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48595555)) - Strong account takeover protection (3 comments): "The delay is quite a bother but it's surely better than account takeover." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48367139)) "powerful and effective account takeover protection even 15 years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49745081)) "Google provides excellent features to prevent this from happening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49015264)) - Robust recovery process (3 comments): "They did help me regain access to my late 90s angelfire account" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46389977)) "I experienced Google's recently and it was very robust." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46308883)) "Google has a pretty robust recovery process." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745486)) - Convenient, low-effort setup (2 comments): "You can literally log into your Google account on first boot and everything is done for you, automatically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208298)) "Not crazy, it is just convenient." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47199893)) ## What people warn about - Automated bans without explanation or appeal (5 comments): "Google deciding to willy nilly unilaterally ban my 20+ year old primary Google account is probably my greatest internet fear, given how famously awful their support is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116255)) "people's entire Google accounts are getting banned without apparently violating any terms without the ability to talk to someone or appeal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208231)) "Until one day your Google account gets locked with an automatically generated message that you violated an unspecified rule." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49122986)) - Lockouts during recovery or security checks (6 comments): "If you haven't given them that info, you just get locked out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49759025)) "can't login despite having everything they can possibly want" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50098186)) "It accepted the backup code and my correct password and then wanted to verify more stuff, which there was nothing, and just said "Sorry, we can't give you access to your account right now"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46921636)) - Bans spread to linked accounts (3 comments): "Google also spreads bans to accounts it deems related, so your personal Google account is likely to be deleted at the same time as your GCP account." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48212595)) "someone's child had been interacting with Gemini inappropriately resulting in Google nuking the entire families Google accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48758021)) "Google "knows" you are the same person and will ban all accounts associated with you if you do something they don't like." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49935164)) - Dependence on one identity provider (5 comments): "It's completely crooked that the average person is forced to maintain good standing with a single particular NASDAQ corporation to participate in society." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47596681)) "By shrugging it off as "not great", you're also dooming every citizen to have to comply with whatever whimsical terms of service Google and Apple have." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47648243)) "If it gets as far as government-mandated Google ID in my country, I think it's completely rational to kill oneself rather than live like cattle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47653482)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple Account](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-account.md): 10 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https://accounts.google.com/&followup=https://accounts.google.com/&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S1999155706:1793623632036849) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Google account", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-account/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).