No, you are not the product sigh. Google has to keep users satisfied as much as they can, and they do. E.g., AFAIK, they downrank ads which point to sites which people leave too early again, even if they would generate them more revenue.
Ad clicks is the product, and not users' data. If you setup an ads campaign, you will see that the adwords experience is not nearly as polished as other Google products - and why should they care, businesses just HAVE to use adwords to gain traction. If anything, Google treats its ordinary users as clients, and forces its advertising monopoly on advertisers.
Google's using data they aggregate about me to pick and choose which ads I should see, ideally optimizing for ones that I'll click on. Those clicks are sold to advertisers.
Google's selling our clicks to advertisers. We are the product they're selling.
Exactly. It's not a bad thing, it's a pretty fundamental basis of the Internet and the reason we get so much for free. At the end of the day it is still a win for consumers. I'm glad it works that way, since I'd rather view ads then pay a monthly subscription to Google (or would I? At least most people would).
Ad clicks is the product, and not users' data. If you setup an ads campaign, you will see that the adwords experience is not nearly as polished as other Google products - and why should they care, businesses just HAVE to use adwords to gain traction. If anything, Google treats its ordinary users as clients, and forces its advertising monopoly on advertisers.