I’m indifferent to them. I use their products, but I’m not a huge fan. I use them because I dislike the alternatives more.
I’ve been considering trying to degoogle myself, but honestly it would be complicated, and there’s a wife-approval factor that likely hinders that. We have multiple Chromecasts, Next hubs, etc around the house, and my wife likes the ease of use. I am slowly building up a home assistant instance, but still tying it into the Google home integration for ease of wife approval.
I use what works best for me, and right now most of those options are from Google.
I was thinking about putting my 2m antenna in the attic, I didn’t think about metal though. I have asphalt shingles but I have solar panels basically covering the south face. I’m guessing the brackets, panels, and wiring will all add up to my plan not panning out well.