
Google’s Don’t Be Evil Not “Ordained Motto” Says Marissa Mayer - nickb
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/15/googles-dont-be-evil-not-ordained-motto-says-marissa-mayer/
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apathy
_It’s too bad they couldn’t get Buchheit to take it with him when he left to
found FriendFeed._

Arrington is either a brilliant troll or an incredible asshole. Mayer was
effectively pointing out that moral relativity gives even SEO spammers an
excuse to claim that Google is "evil" in whatever way they frame it, and it
falls to the GOOG to fight this perception. So Arrington (tongue-in-cheek, I
hope?) apparently decides it would have been better if one of the more
demanding corporate mottos ever embraced were to have left with Buchheit.

Regardless of whether Google would have been better off (doubt it), the rest
of the world would likely be poorer for it, since many painful decisions would
be a lot easier to justify on the basis of profit-and-loss than right-and-
wrong. I'll bet you that motto (and its consequences, and the perception boost
from trying to follow it publicly) is worth far more than even Google's PR
folks calculate, over the long haul.

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pchristensen
But since they went public, they do have a responsibility to justify on the
basis of profit-and-loss. Granted, they make so much $$$ that they have room
to consider right and wrong, but I'm sure "Do No Evil" has cost them and
Google shareholders some opportunities.

But that's just me playing Devil's Advocate. I wish they would continue to Do
No Evil, and I'm glad for what they've done so far.

~~~
apathy
_But since they went public, they do have a responsibility to justify on the
basis of profit-and-loss._

Sort of. Have you looked at the manner in which GOOG's shares are structured?
Their responsibility is actually much greater to internal shareholders. (I
view this as another plus.)

Most companies have CEOs who could be fired for doing the right thing. Google
has insulated itself from this a little, although a profit must be turned each
quarter. The voting weights of their shares are a very concrete implementation
of their bias towards long-term strategies, rather than the Street's manic
focus on quarterly growth.

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TrevorJ
It darn well better be, with the amount of personal leverage we hand them when
we let them keep track of our every move online and target ads to us right in
our email. DARN well better be the motto I say.

