4 ms·

They dropped that a long time ago, at least a decade ago. Which is really an odd thing to do, what company would think that not being evil was holding it back b

They dropped that a long time ago, at least a decade ago. Which is really an odd thing to do, what company would think that not being evil was holding it back but Google clearly did.

GolfPopper 6mo ago
And we all ought to have dropped them, then. (Most of us, myself included, did not.)
- Jensson 6mo ago
  No other big american company says "don't be evil", if you aren't dropping Apple and Microsoft then you it doesn't make sense to drop Google.
matt_kantor 6mo ago
While this is a common quip that I find pretty funny, it's not really true. What actually happened was that while updating their code of conduct[0], Google changed it to only say "don't be evil" in one place instead of multiple[1]. Google was also sued by former employees who claim they were fired because they tried to prevent Google from doing evil[2], in accordance with the code of conduct they agreed to. Sadly that lawsuit ended with a secret settlement, so we'll never know what a jury thinks. Since "don't be evil" is still in there I suppose it could come up again. [0]: https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/default.aspx https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of... [1]: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-dont-be-evil/254019/ https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-dont-be-evil/2540... [2]: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1059821677/google-dont-be-evil-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1059821677/google-dont-be-evi...
pwg 6mo ago
"Don't be evil" was dropped after the DoubleClick acquisition completed their internal takeover of the old "Don't be evil" Google (Google purportedly purchased DoubleClick, in reality they 'did' purchase them, but then the old DoubleClick advertisers slowly took over old Google from the inside out). What is called "Google" today is actually the old, fully evil, advertising firm "DoubleClick" pretending to be "Google" to make use of the goodwill the "Google" brand name used to have attached to it.
- tgma 6mo ago
  Couldn't be more simplistic. Of course a three trillion dollar Google would behave differently than a 2008 Google with or without DoubleClick. Even today, I would argue an average sample of Googlers will likely think slightly differently about these things than an average sample of Facebook employees; but of course both will have to respond to influence from the external world: i.e. customer, society, govt.
john_strinlai 6mo ago
this is a fun story, but... its a story. here is the google code of conduct: https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/default.aspx https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of... scroll down to the bottom, and you will see: "And remember... don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!"

They dropped that a long time ago, at least a decade ago. Which is really an odd thing to do, what company would think that not being evil was holding it back but Google clearly did.

GolfPopper 6mo ago

And we all ought to have dropped them, then. (Most of us, myself included, did not.)

Jensson 6mo ago
No other big american company says "don't be evil", if you aren't dropping Apple and Microsoft then you it doesn't make sense to drop Google.

matt_kantor 6mo ago

While this is a common quip that I find pretty funny, it's not really true. What actually happened was that while updating their code of conduct[0], Google changed it to only say "don't be evil" in one place instead of multiple[1]. Google was also sued by former employees who claim they were fired because they tried to prevent Google from doing evil[2], in accordance with the code of conduct they agreed to. Sadly that lawsuit ended with a secret settlement, so we'll never know what a jury thinks. Since "don't be evil" is still in there I suppose it could come up again. [0]: https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/default.aspx https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of... [1]: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-dont-be-evil/254019/ https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-dont-be-evil/2540... [2]: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1059821677/google-dont-be-evil-lawsuit https://www.npr.org/2021/11/29/1059821677/google-dont-be-evi...

pwg 6mo ago

"Don't be evil" was dropped after the DoubleClick acquisition completed their internal takeover of the old "Don't be evil" Google (Google purportedly purchased DoubleClick, in reality they 'did' purchase them, but then the old DoubleClick advertisers slowly took over old Google from the inside out). What is called "Google" today is actually the old, fully evil, advertising firm "DoubleClick" pretending to be "Google" to make use of the goodwill the "Google" brand name used to have attached to it.

tgma 6mo ago
Couldn't be more simplistic. Of course a three trillion dollar Google would behave differently than a 2008 Google with or without DoubleClick. Even today, I would argue an average sample of Googlers will likely think slightly differently about these things than an average sample of Facebook employees; but of course both will have to respond to influence from the external world: i.e. customer, society, govt.

john_strinlai 6mo ago

this is a fun story, but... its a story. here is the google code of conduct: https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/default.aspx https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of... scroll down to the bottom, and you will see: "And remember... don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!"