How to de-Google your website to make it faster and visitor friendly

markosaric12 appsUpdated Sep 8, 2020

Did you know that 94% of sites include at least one third-party resource while the median page requests content from 9 different domains? These third-party resources represent 35% of the total network activity and 7 of the 10 most used resources are owned by Google.

Third-party resources slow down the web and are a concern for the privacy of people who visit these sites. Google themselves will point the finger at their analytics and ads when you use their speed tests. They provide guides on making third-party resources less slow too.

Here’s how you can de-Google-ify your site, get fully independent and in control while having faster loading time, being more eco-friendly and more compliant with the privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

Alternatives to Google Blogger

WordPress
Like
Open-source software for creating websites and blogs with an emphasis on accessibility, ease of use, performance, and security.
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Blog Publishing Tool
CMS Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
PHP
Cloudron
Google Chrome
Safari
+1
markosaric’s note
The passionate community behind the project has created tens of thousands of free design themes and plugins that you can use to create any website that you want. It also allows you to easily export any of the content you create in case you ever decide to leave.

Alternatives to Google reCAPTCHA

Akismet
Like
Akismet checks your comments and contact form submissions against our global database of spam to prevent your site from publishing malicious content.
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Application type
Anti-Spam Tool
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Wordpress
markosaric’s note
For WordPress sites. It protects everything on your site from the contact form to the comments area. And it does so without affecting real users and without forcing them to do different tests.
hCaptcha
Like
hCaptcha is designed to solve the most labor intensive problem in machine learning: labeling massive amounts of data in a timely, affordable, and reliable way.
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
Anti-Spam Tool
Platforms
Online
markosaric’s note
hCaptcha which is like reCAPTCHA but a bit more transparent, independent and privacy-friendly.

Alternatives to Google Adsense

Brave
Like
Fast, secure browser with built-in ad block, privacy controls, and global tracking protections. Optimizes data, speed, and battery life.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Web Browser
Ad Blocker
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Snapcraft
Epic Games Store
Flathub
Samsung Galaxy Store
F-Droid
Homebrew
Chocolatey
+7
markosaric’s note
If you want to use digital advertising, you may consider blockchain-based Basic Attention Token by the company behind the Brave browser.
Patreon
Like
In 2013, YouTube musician Jack Conte was looking for a solution to his problem: millions of people loved his videos, but only hundreds of dollars were hitting his bank account. This didn’t add up, so he drafted up an idea (hi, we’re Patreon) and brought it to his college...
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application type
Crowdfunding Service
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+12
markosaric’s note
Sell subscriptions and accept donations from your loyal fans using services such as Patreon.

Alternatives to YouTube

PeerTube
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PeerTube is a free, decentralized and federated video platform developed as an alternative to other platforms that centralize our data and attention, such as YouTube, Dailymotion or Vimeo. But one organization hosting PeerTube alone may not have enough money to pay for bandwidth...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Video Streaming App
Video Sharing Tool
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Self-Hosted
F-Droid
Cloudron
+3
markosaric’s note
PeerTube is another interesting alternative. It’s a free, open-source, federated and decentralized video platform that uses peer-to-peer technology.

A federated platform allows you to join one of the existing instances or create your own which then syncs with the rest of the network.
Vimeo
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Vimeo is the best way to get your videos online in the highest quality with great tools to share publicly or privately.
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Video Sharing Tool
Video Hosting Service
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
Windows Phone
Apple TV
Kindle Fire
markosaric’s note
Vimeo is one of the most popular alternatives to YouTube when you want to embed a video on your site.

Alternatives to Google Maps

OpenStreetMap
Like
Browse, search and edit worldwide map data for roads, paths, places, buildings and natural features, then reuse it under an open data licence.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Map Service
Platforms
Online
markosaric’s note
OpenStreetMap is a great alternative if you’re simply embedding a map or directions on your site. It’s open-source and community-driven.

Alternatives to Google Analytics

Google Search Console
Like
Google Search Console is a free service by Google that helps monitor, troubleshoot, and enhance a website's presence in Google Search results. It offers tools and reports for submitting sitemaps, receiving alerts, inspecting URLs, and understanding site performance.
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
SEO Tool
Website Monitoring Tool
Platforms
Online
+1
markosaric’s note
And for those who want to understand their search engine visibility and traffic they get from Google, there’s Search Console which is the most accurate way of doing that. And you don’t need to add any scripts to your site to use it. It’s the Google tool I use the most these days.
PostHog
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PostHog provides open-source product analytics, built for developers. Automate the collection of every event on your website or app, with no need to send data to 3rd parties. With just 1 click you can deploy on your own infrastructure, having full API/SQL access to the...
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Web Analytics Service
Website Monitoring Tool
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
+1
markosaric’s note
PostHog is an option for open-source product analytics.
Plausible Analytics
Like
Open-source web analytics tool prioritizing privacy, with no cookies and full compliance with GDPR, CCPA, PECR. Fast, lightweight design.
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application type
Web Analytics Service
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
Software as a Service (SaaS)
+4
markosaric’s note
I'm working on Plausible Analytics. Modern dashboard, simple metrics to understand, open source, lightweight script (
Matomo
Like
Self-hosted GPL-licensed analytics with advanced privacy, customizable reports, insights on visitor languages, search keywords, and real-time traffic sources.
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application type
Web Analytics Service
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
Software as a Service (SaaS)
PHP
Cloudron
Wordpress
markosaric’s note
Matomo (formerly known as Piwik) is one of the big players in the ethical analytics market. It’s an open-source analytics software that you can either self-host on your domain name for free or you can pay them to host it in the cloud.