One device in your hand vs multiple apps you have to scroll to look for.
Santa: But you've been avoiding clicking on those Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% off coupons I get kickbacks on...
I get it, but Google doesn't know anything(supposedly) unless you sign into Google assistant on your phone, and link it to your hopper. I was playing around with it yesterday, and it's actually pretty cool. I told my remote to "show me my photos," and the pictures from my phone showed up on my tv. I said, "make it warmer," and it adjusted my thermostat. Asking for movies and TV shows have been almost perfect. I really wish I could get it to show the driveway or doorbell cameras when I ask. Hope that feature is still coming..
Probably different things. FB was the most insidious by allowing Cambridge Analytica to have access to users so they could build profiles that they used to manipulate how people would possibly vote based on targeted data on FB. Google is using data for targeted advertising, which is also manipulative, but in how people spend money, mostly and if you have an Android, you most likely have a Google account, so you're already filling Data Bases with everything you do and every where you go. Since the Hopper is only used for watching TV or listening to Music, I'd say it's the least intrusive, albeit still intrusive
The alternative for voice control would be for Dish to develop their own solution which would not be cost effective compared to partnering with Google to provide the voice recognition back-end. Plus even if Dish did their own solution then many of the Dish users would be clamoring for it to be compatible with Alexa or Google. Definitely more cost efficient and most probably a better product by using the existing Google infrastructure.
