It's probably strange more due to his strong relationship with Obama and those campaigns. It's exactly the sort of thing you don't want to see in that sort of dominant company.
He doesn't come off very well in "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" either.
edit: as guessed, I got down voted for an Obama reference. Here's a quote from the book:
"First, Google demonstrated that the same predictive knowledge derived from behavioral surplus that had made the surveillance capitalists wealthy could also help candidates win elections. To make the point, Google was ready to apply its magic to the red-hot core of twenty-first-century campaigning, beginning with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. Schmidt had a leading role in organizing teams and guiding the implementation of cutting-edge data strategies
that would eclipse the traditional political arts with the science of behavioral prediction"
He doesn't come off very well in "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" either.
edit: as guessed, I got down voted for an Obama reference. Here's a quote from the book:
"First, Google demonstrated that the same predictive knowledge derived from behavioral surplus that had made the surveillance capitalists wealthy could also help candidates win elections. To make the point, Google was ready to apply its magic to the red-hot core of twenty-first-century campaigning, beginning with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. Schmidt had a leading role in organizing teams and guiding the implementation of cutting-edge data strategies that would eclipse the traditional political arts with the science of behavioral prediction"