
17% of UK Adults Believe Google Has Their Best Interests at Heart - crockstar
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2013/05/01/in-google-we-trust/
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threeseed
Here is the question and results:

[http://news.sky.com/story/1084991/britons-trust-google-as-
mu...](http://news.sky.com/story/1084991/britons-trust-google-as-much-as-
religion)

As you can see any conclusions you can draw about Google are pointless since
it was specifically benchmarked against politicians, banks etc which are
universally disliked.

~~~
polymatter
For convenience.

Question: "To what extent do the following have your best interests at heart?"

NHS: 37%

Police: 26%

Charities: 21%

Supermarkets: 19%

Google: 17%

Religious institutions: 17%

Building societies: 15%

Local authorities: 10%

Private healthcare firms: 9%

Facebook: 9%

Lawyers: 8%

Banks: 7%

Media: 6%

Utility companies: 6%

Insurance companies: 5%

Politicians: 3%

~~~
mrkmcknz
I can't believe banks scored as high as 7%

~~~
tome
And I'm actually surprised that Building Societies scored so low, but maybe
I've got some weird bias.

~~~
mrkmcknz
I bank with Nationwide who are supposed to be a building society. In my
experience they're in every way just like a bank.

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antihero
Honestly, I don't have the problem with the commodification of my data - if
they can make money from it and provide me with things that are useful, so be
it. However, I don't think many people really understand what's happening.

~~~
mike-cardwell
Presumably with the caveats: They don't leak your data, and they don't use it
in any of the multitude of legal manners that you probably haven't considered
but would disapprove of if you had considered them. Oh, and that the data
doesn't incriminate you in something you didn't do. Basically, you're relying
on a combination of the good nature of a morally neutral corporation, and
luck. You may be lucky, you may not.

~~~
GhotiFish
If I can add: It shouldn't incriminate you in something you did do, as well.

because what is and isn't legal can often come down to who's taking their
medication in our respective governments.

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arethuza
I like the Guardian's take on this:

"After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, custard sales went through the roof as
people sought refuge in nostalgia"

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-
blog/2...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-
blog/2013/mar/11/recession-british-consumer-brands)

~~~
igouy
Missing "the glaringly obvious" -- custard is actual comfort food not just a
yearning for past childhood.

~~~
Evbn
Comfort food is comforting because it is nostalgic.

~~~
pessimizer
Or because it is rich in carbohydrates and fats, and super aromatic.

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gordaco
That's either a disturbing blindness or an exceedingly good PR department.

~~~
sjtgraham
Either way, it's disturbing blindness.

~~~
alan_cx
Ok, so what about the percentages of people who positively vote for political
parties? Do you mock them too?

I'd say 17% is pretty decent.

~~~
crockstar
In the context of how others scored I would say 17% is fairly decent as well.
However, most Hacker Newsers make up a small percentage of a standard "UK
consumer." I thought this number was incredibly low given that most people's
interaction with Google would be as the organisation with the stated intent
"to organise the world's data" - not as a corporation that makes money from
advertising.

With that said, Google & Starbucks have been front and center in the
mainstream news a lot lately in the UK with regards to "tax avoidance" claims.

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Nux
17% is quite decent. I wonder how many think the same about Apple? It will be
interesting to see the results of next year's survey.

I see a definite down-trend in trusting Google, but mostly among techies.

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lucian1900
"17% of U.K. consumers trust Google, the same as trust religious institutions"

This bit doesn't surprise me much. Many people I've talked to are rational,
even disliking religion.

~~~
arethuza
Personally, I view religion in the UK as a relatively harmless social activity
favoured by the elderly - a bit like bowls.

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verygoodyear
Why do they put large categories such as 'Supermarkets' and 'Banks' next to
specific companies like 'Google' or 'Facebook'. Surely 'Search engines' or
'Social media sites' would be more appropriate?

~~~
yen223
Because for most people, 'search engine' means Google; 'social media' means
Facebook and Twitter.

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venomsnake
On a side note 83% of UK consumers are not childishly naive ...

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jdotjdot
I am both astounded and encouraged by the fact that the NHS has such a high
trust rating.

I wonder how that could factor into the ongoing American health care debate.

~~~
frobozz
Really? I'm shocked and horrified that it's so low, same with the police.

Their entire purpose is the health of the nation. They have no other
stakeholders. They should score close to 100%.

What do those 63% believe is at the heart of the NHS, and why? How can we fix
it?

All that said, I can't imagine any private company scoring anywhere near as
high as 37%, regardless of what their mission might be.

~~~
summerdown2
For me, the problem is creeping privatisation. Were the NHS better funded and
supported by government I would feel a lot more like it had my interests at
heart.

The problem for me isn't the NHS on its own, which I think is great ... but
rather political interference diluting the mission and redirecting it for
economic and populist ends.

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pablisco
Has anybody found the source Case Study? It's not on the mentioned companies
websites.

~~~
gjhiggins
Not specifically for this source but Ipsos MORI have been asking similar
questions for quite a while, the latest results are here: [http://www.ipsos-
mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchi...](http://www.ipsos-
mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3133/Politicians-trusted-less-
than-estate-agents-bankers-and-journalists.aspx)

If the subject of perceptions of trust is of interest ... I've (mostly
finished) a blog post about these trust perceptions which re-presents some of
the Ipsos Mori stats in support of an attempt to plumb the implications for
politics and the projection of power in the UK : <https://www.bel-
epa.com/posts/a-legislature-of-lemons.xml>

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Evbn
That is a rather vague question. Google has 50K hearts.

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emeidi
True Beliebers

