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The technology may be great, but at the end of the day, you're still working for a company whose main business is selling ad space. Definitely not a surprise th
by oinksoft 13y ago
The technology may be great, but at the end of the day, you're still working for a company whose main business is selling ad space. Definitely not a surprise that many people find this less than fulfilling. The amazing thing is that Google has managed to sell an employment experience whose most outstanding feature is creature comforts to a host of smart people.
- plywoodtrees 13y agoAt the end of the day, you're still an animal whose main business is eating, pooping, and reproducing. It turns out there's a lot of scope for creativity and joy while keeping the organism alive.
- cromwellian 13y agoThe vast majority of Google engineers don't work on ads. The guys working on Google Maps, feel they are working for a mapping company. The guys working on Android feel they're working on mobile. The people working on search feel they're working on machine intelligence issues. Frankly, as a Google employee, I like that the ads business subsidizes research into other areas that are not economical yet or which people won't pay for. The fact that Google culture overall aligns my my views on intellectual property, progressive ideals, and just not being a douche-bag cancels out any "taint" that the money is made on (IMHO, tasteful) ads. I used to work at IBM T.J. Watson research. I had no love for the IBM consulting or mainframe business, but I never had to deal with it. Google's main business might be advertising, but that business is mostly automated, it doesn't take 20,000 engineers to run AdWords.