Don't be evil
"Don't be evil" is the formal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google.[1] It was first suggested either by Google employee Paul Buchheit[2] at a meeting about corporate values in early 2000,[3] or according to another account by Google engineer Amit Patel in 1999.[4] Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said he "wanted something that, once you put it in there, would be hard to take out", adding that the slogan was "also a bit of a jab at a lot of the other companies, especially our competitors, who at the time, in our opinion, were kind of exploiting the users to some extent."[2] While the official corporate philosophy of Google[5] does not contain the words "Don't be evil", they were included in the prospectus (aka "S-1") of Google's 2004 IPO (a letter from Google's founders, later called the "'Don't Be Evil' manifesto"): "Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains."[6] The motto is sometimes incorrectly stated as Do no evil.[3][7]
While many companies have ethical codes that govern their conduct in contract, Google claims to have made "Don't Be Evil" a central pillar of their identity[8] as part of their self-proclaimed core values.[9]. The words: "Don't be evil" form part of the sixth point in these Core Values, and in full states: "Do the right thing: don't be evil. Honesty and Integrity in all we do. Our business practices are beyond reproach. We make money by doing good things."[10][5]
Criticism of Google often includes a reference to "Don't be evil".[11]
Avoiding conflicts of interest[edit]
In their 2004 founders' letter[12] prior to their initial public offering, Larry Page and Sergey Brin explained that their "Don't be evil" culture prohibited conflicts of interest, and required objectivity and an absence of bias:
Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others. Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating. We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly. This is similar to a well-run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers’ payments. We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see.
Chris Hoofnagle, director of University of California, Berkeley Law’s information privacy programs, has stated[13] that Google's original intention expressed by the "don't be evil" motto is linked to the company's separation of search results from advertising. However, he argues that clearly separating search results from sponsored links is required by law, thus, Google's practice is now mainstream and no longer remarkable or good. According to Hoofnagle, Google should abandon the motto because:
The evil talk is not only an albatross for Google, it obscures the substantial consumer benefits from Google’s advertising model. Because we have forgotten the original context of Google’s evil representations, the company should remind the public of the company’s contribution to a revolution in search advertising, and highlight some overlooked benefits of their model.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Google Code of Conduct". Investor. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ a b "Paul Buchheit on Gmail, AdSense and More". Blogoscoped. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2013-04-04. (quoting from: Jessica Livingston, Founders at Work, ISBN 978-1590597149)
- ^ a b Gleick, James, "How Google Dominates Us", The New York Review of Books
- ^ "Don't Be Evil or don't lose value?". The Sydney Morning Herald (AU). 2008-04-15.
- ^ a b "Corporate Information". Our Philosophy. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ Ovide, Shira (2011-06-23). "What Would 2004 Google Say About Antitrust Probe?". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ ndouglas (2/09/06), "Don’t be evil. Fact-check the company motto", Valleywag, Gawker
- ^ "Google Core Values". Blogoscoped. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
- ^ "Google Hamburg Gallery". Blogoscoped. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ "Google Core Values". Blogoscoped. 2007-01-25. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
- ^
- Cowley, Stacy (2006-01-27). "Google CEO on censoring: "We did an evil scale"". Infoworld. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- "II. How Censorship Works in China: A Brief Overview", "Race to the Bottom": Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship, HRW, retrieved 2011-11-25
- "Amnesty International". Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- Wickre, Karen (2006-02-15). "Testimony: The Internet in China". Blog. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- "Google's "don't be evil" motto becomes a fig leaf (谷歌"不作恶"口号沦为遮羞布)". CN: People's Daily. 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
- "Investigating on Google China's obscene information, the public says "good"! (查处谷歌中国淫秽信息，公众都叫"好"！)". CN: People's Daily. 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
- 卫敏丽 (2009-06-19). "Relevant departments punished "Google China"'s dissemination of obscene information by law (有关部门对"谷歌中国"传播淫秽色情信息行为依法处罚)". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- Drummond, David. "A New Approach to China". Blog. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- Abell, John C (2010-01-30). "Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra Is ‘Bullshit,’ Adobe Is Lazy: Apple’s Steve Jobs (Update 2)". Wired. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- Koski, Olivia (2010-08-10). "10 Media Takes on the Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Proposal". Wired. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- Green, Adam (2010-08-26). "Google Goes "Evil"". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- "Lawful Rebellion — Roger Hayes challenges Liverpool City Council", YouTube (video), Birkenhead, UK, 7 March 2011, archived from the original on 19 Nov 2011, retrieved 19 May 2011
- ^ "Letter from the founders, "an owner's manual" for Google's shareholders". USA: SEC. 14 Aug 2004.
- ^ Hoofnagle, Chris (April 2009). "Beyond Google and evil: How policy makers, journalist and consumers should talk differently about Google and privacy". First Monday 14 (4–6).
External links[edit]
- Hoofnagle, Chris (April 2009). "Beyond Google and evil: How policy makers, journalist and consumers should talk differently about Google and privacy". First Monday 14 (4–6)..
- "Google vs. Evil", Wired (11.01).
- Drummond, David. "A New Approach to China". Blog. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25..
- "Corporate Information". Our Philosophy. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25..
- "Google Code of Conduct". Investor. Google. Retrieved 2011-11-25..
