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This needs to be at the top. Google confirms that it was their representatives who pulled off the scam, not someone posing as Google. We can all stop making exc

This needs to be at the top. Google confirms that it was their representatives who pulled off the scam, not someone posing as Google. We can all stop making excuses for them now

jcslzr 15y ago
Well some people at Google were dishonest, like in any other organization in the world. I wonder if its also dishonest people working in search results...
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
fred_nada 15y ago
The funny thing is everyone continues to make excuses. Already 2 in the past 5 minutes...
- zukhan 15y ago
  Maybe it's the Google employees on here trying to make excuses for their employer?
notatoad 15y ago
It is at the top. And also in the article. Please don't make "this needs to be at the top" comments, and just use the arrows. That's what they're for.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
sek 15y ago
We should accept that Google has many employees and some of them are black sheep. They are not perfect, but they seem very transparent by admitting it.
- robryan 15y ago
  Any large company can use that excuse though, they still benefit greatly from the activity. It's pretty rare you see a big company not try an shift the blame to contractors or a small international office. If you can't have effective oversight over all your operations then maybe the company is to big.
- karpathy 15y ago
  Exactly. As I'm reading over all the aftermath I get the feeling that this is overblown. With organization of this size there will always be some black sheep at some point in time. Google should be judged not by what happens, but how they react.
- grannyg00se 15y ago
  But what did Google do about it other than issue an apology? Are these "black sheep" going to continue to be employed? Is the culture in which they were enabled going to be allowed to persist in the company? Is Google going to make any real effort to repair damage to the offended party?
lancewiggs 15y ago
To summarize what we know, think we know and the open questions are: What we know: 1: Google employees or contractors or partners did this (called Mocality listed businesses, said they were from Google/Mocality and sold websites etc.) 2: Apparently they were a rogue person/team/unit inside of Google 3: But there seemed to be a lot of callers involved 4: They moved the calling unit to India 5: Google HQ now knows about this Speculation 1: Nobody in Google HQ knew about this at the time 2: The person or people involved in Google Kenya were quite high up to be able to motivate that many people 3: The India team was not part of Google's team. (or perhaps they were). They got involved because the heat was on in Kenya. 4: Mocality suffered a loss here (e.g. use of data to be used to solicit businesses against their terms and conditions), the people doing so were at Google and representing Google and thus Google has opened themselves up for a considerable legal mess. 5: The Nigerian courts and legal system are too hard/expensive/slow for Mocality and Google to navigate, so Mocality have turned to PR to motivate Google to change. 6: That approach is working, and it should be working. Google needs to do something urgently to fix this. 7: Getting rid of the partners is insufficient remedy for Mocality. There needs to be some compensation involved for the solicitation of a considerable percentage of Mocality's listings. 8: Ultimately the best way for Google to handle this is to purchase Mocality. Questions 1:Was the India team a Google team one or outsourced to some rascals there? 2: What will Google do to compensate Mocality of this scam? 3: Has Mocality retained a lawyer in Nigeria, have they formally asked Google to Cease and Desist and requested compensation? 4: Why has Google not approached Mocality wrt purchase of their data? 5: Who has the relationship with any businesses that did sign up to the scammers? What will happen to that relationship and to the money paid?
- fedd 15y ago
  > 5: The Nigerian courts and legal system are too hard/expensive/slow for Mocality and Google to navigate, so Mocality have turned to PR to motivate Google to change. ... > 3: Has Mocality retained a lawyer in Nigeria, have they formally asked Google to Cease and Desist and requested compensation? Kenya is sorta different country.. :)

This needs to be at the top. Google confirms that it was their representatives who pulled off the scam, not someone posing as Google. We can all stop making excuses for them now

jcslzr 15y ago

Well some people at Google were dishonest, like in any other organization in the world. I wonder if its also dishonest people working in search results...

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

fred_nada 15y ago

The funny thing is everyone continues to make excuses. Already 2 in the past 5 minutes...

zukhan 15y ago
Maybe it's the Google employees on here trying to make excuses for their employer?

notatoad 15y ago

It is at the top. And also in the article. Please don't make "this needs to be at the top" comments, and just use the arrows. That's what they're for.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

sek 15y ago

We should accept that Google has many employees and some of them are black sheep. They are not perfect, but they seem very transparent by admitting it.

robryan 15y ago
Any large company can use that excuse though, they still benefit greatly from the activity. It's pretty rare you see a big company not try an shift the blame to contractors or a small international office. If you can't have effective oversight over all your operations then maybe the company is to big.
karpathy 15y ago
Exactly. As I'm reading over all the aftermath I get the feeling that this is overblown. With organization of this size there will always be some black sheep at some point in time. Google should be judged not by what happens, but how they react.
grannyg00se 15y ago
But what did Google do about it other than issue an apology? Are these "black sheep" going to continue to be employed? Is the culture in which they were enabled going to be allowed to persist in the company? Is Google going to make any real effort to repair damage to the offended party?

lancewiggs 15y ago

To summarize what we know, think we know and the open questions are: What we know: 1: Google employees or contractors or partners did this (called Mocality listed businesses, said they were from Google/Mocality and sold websites etc.) 2: Apparently they were a rogue person/team/unit inside of Google 3: But there seemed to be a lot of callers involved 4: They moved the calling unit to India 5: Google HQ now knows about this Speculation 1: Nobody in Google HQ knew about this at the time 2: The person or people involved in Google Kenya were quite high up to be able to motivate that many people 3: The India team was not part of Google's team. (or perhaps they were). They got involved because the heat was on in Kenya. 4: Mocality suffered a loss here (e.g. use of data to be used to solicit businesses against their terms and conditions), the people doing so were at Google and representing Google and thus Google has opened themselves up for a considerable legal mess. 5: The Nigerian courts and legal system are too hard/expensive/slow for Mocality and Google to navigate, so Mocality have turned to PR to motivate Google to change. 6: That approach is working, and it should be working. Google needs to do something urgently to fix this. 7: Getting rid of the partners is insufficient remedy for Mocality. There needs to be some compensation involved for the solicitation of a considerable percentage of Mocality's listings. 8: Ultimately the best way for Google to handle this is to purchase Mocality. Questions 1:Was the India team a Google team one or outsourced to some rascals there? 2: What will Google do to compensate Mocality of this scam? 3: Has Mocality retained a lawyer in Nigeria, have they formally asked Google to Cease and Desist and requested compensation? 4: Why has Google not approached Mocality wrt purchase of their data? 5: Who has the relationship with any businesses that did sign up to the scammers? What will happen to that relationship and to the money paid?

fedd 15y ago
> 5: The Nigerian courts and legal system are too hard/expensive/slow for Mocality and Google to navigate, so Mocality have turned to PR to motivate Google to change. ... > 3: Has Mocality retained a lawyer in Nigeria, have they formally asked Google to Cease and Desist and requested compensation? Kenya is sorta different country.. :)