Look at it from the other side: with those principles written down, executives will at least have the option to adhere to them, something to point at when they

Look at it from the other side: with those principles written down, executives will at least have the option to adhere to them, something to point at when they do. Without, shareholders might give them a very hard time for every not strictly illegal profit opportunity they preferred to skip. Google might be in a position to not get bullied around much by investors though, so that line of thought might be slightly off topic here.