How Evernote Can (And Probably Will) Fix Its Problems in 2017

TL;DR Version: Sell it to Google.

Evernote had some PR problems in 2016. A price restructuring that got a lot of bad press since it was the second pricing increase in recent memory and a privacy policy change that rightfully garnered the ire of almost all of the Internet.

So how can they fix it? I personally think they've been headed towards a sale to Google for a while now. I believe it started shortly after the first pricing increase under Phil Libin. It probably became obvious to Evernote that the new pricing wasn't going to save the company.

Evernote replaced their CEO with a former Googler, and since then have moved their data store to Google, raised their prices, reduced the functionality of their free offering, and announced a new privacy policy that would allow Evernote employees to see private data—a policy they've since reversed.

At almost every one of these points, they've suffered negative PR and lost customers. If I was conspiracy-minded I'd almost say this has been orchestrated to reduce Evernote's value and make for an easier Google acquisition; hey, they're almost a Google entity already.

Pair all those of this with Google's inadequate Evernote "killer," Google Keep, and Evernote has got to look ripe for picking by Google.

Just finish the job, do the inevitable, save us the time and sell it to them so I can set about figuring if I stay or jump ship.

Update: Fixed spelling error. 1/2/17