| Can Google Continue to Do No Evil? |
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A post on Slashdot today has gotten me thinking about a topic that I normally don't cover here. The gist of the story is something like this: Fellow has his website "hacked" and was defaced in some way. Google took the extraordinary step of de-listing the site because of the non-topical content present in the site. The owner of the site took google to task for not notifying him of the de-listing and for not helping him find out why it was de-listed. The slashdot discussion, rightfully, placed the blame on the webmaster rather than on Google. Many people pointed out that Google is a private company and not a public utility, so they can do pretty much whatever they want. My thoughts started to wander a bit and I'm starting to wonder about the need to hold Google to a higher standard. More after the jump. The internet has become commonplace in our daily lives. I believe it has become so commonplace that it is bordering on a necessity and that, should it all of a sudden fail do to some massive attack of some description, there would be very serious rammifications felt over most of the world. Google has become a household word and is arguably most important internet properties. We no longer search, we google. They are the primary player for online advertising, and they are arguably the best provider of email services. That's not mentioning the dozens of other Google labeled services out there like Calendar, Analytics, Groups, Google Video etc etc etc. A company so big can make drastic changes to extremely large portions of the online community just by simply changing it's Page Rank algorhythms. Therefore, should they be held to a higher standard? Google has done a very good job of taking the high road in the past. Their motto is "Do No Evil", for chrissakes, so how can we even consider looking at them with some suspicion? The fact that they are now publically traded does not help, because it's now the shareholders who the company has to report to and the shareholders, by and large, care nothing about sticking to ones eithical guidelines as much as they care about financial results. Right now 66% of Google is owned by three people who very much care about the ethical guidelines set aside from the very beginning, but what happens if that figure drops to 49%? Who will be in charge then? That's right, the people who say "Do No Evil, as long as it doesn't hurt the bottom line." True, the website that was de-listed had violated some terms-of-service or something to that affect, but should Google have atleast noted why? The people running the site seem to be responsible people who are determined to do their small piece in helping the internet community, they aren't out there to sell penis extension pills or generic medication. They seem to follow Google's "Do No Evil" motto. Should The Goog ignore them completely or pass off a generic form-letter in response to the webmaster's plea for help? Doesn't a company as powerfull as The Goog have to play nice with the community? Afterall, without the webmasters, what would Google be? Forcing The Goog to a higher standard is very anti-business. However, taking the other tact and allowing them to do whatever pleases them is a potential minefield. Google has no real competition in their primary fields (search and advertising). Yes, there is Yahoo! and Live Search, but when was the last time any of you used them? Exactly. I look at my server logs and see that 90% of the search driven traffic is from Google, so I have a rough idea. Who would be in charge of monitoring The Goog? I'm sure the US Government would happily step into that role, seeing as they are loosing their current stranglehold on the 'net. That just wouldn't do, however. The UN? Possibly, but they need to really grow a pair. Can anyone control the Goog? I very highly doubt it. Well, no one except you and I, and a few billion other users out there. As I see it, we must let The Goog carry on as they have been and hope very strongly that they continue to "Do No Evil" but I would certainly love to see a backup plan. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          Add your comment
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