{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "if-youre-not-paying-youre-the-product-origin",
  "slug": "if-youre-not-paying-youre-the-product-origin",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/if-youre-not-paying-youre-the-product-origin/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/if-youre-not-paying-youre-the-product-origin.json",
  "claim": "\"If you're not paying for it, you're the product\" was coined in a 2010 online comment",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product\"",
  "verdict": "misquoted",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found, but the way it is quoted changes the subject, metric, population or precision.",
  "confidence": "medium",
  "rating": {
    "value": 2,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Quote Investigator",
    "title": "You're Not the Customer; You're the Product (July 16, 2017; updated Oct. 28, 2024)",
    "year": "1973 (precursor)"
  },
  "quote": "In conclusion, this saying evolved over time. Richard Serra and Carlota Fay Schoolman crafted an interesting precursor in 1973. A strong match was written by Tom Johnson in 2001. An extended statement was written by Andrew Lewis in 2010.",
  "method": "Quotation research.",
  "drift": [
    "Origin: the 2010 MetaFilter comment (blue_beetle / Andrew Lewis) popularized it; the idea dates to a 1973 video about TV advertising"
  ],
  "interest": "Quote Investigator is an independent quotation-research site run by Garson O'Toole; no commercial interest in the quote.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "The saying evolved over decades: a 1973 video by Richard Serra and Carlota Fay Schoolman said 'You are the product of t.v.', and a 2010 MetaFilter comment gave the popular 'If you are not paying for it...' wording.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Quote Investigator — You're Not the Customer; You're the Product",
      "url": "https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/07/16/product/",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "Research updated Oct. 28, 2024",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}