Don't be evil

"Don't be evil" is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google,^[1] originally suggested by Google employees Paul Buchheit^[2] and Amit Patel^[3] at a meeting. 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." While the official corporate philosophy of Google^[4] 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."^[5] The sixth point of the 10-point corporate philosophy of Google says "You can make money without doing evil."^[4] The motto is often incorrectly stated as "Do no evil".^[6][7]

"Don't be evil" is said to recognize that large corporations often maximize short-term profits with actions that may not be in the best interests of the public. Supposedly, by instilling a Don't Be Evil culture, the corporation establishes a baseline for honest decision-making that disassociates Google from any and all cheating. This in turn can enhance the trust and image of the corporation that outweighs short-term gains from violating the Don't Be Evil principles.

While many companies have ethical codes to govern their conduct, Google claims to have made "Don't Be Evil" a central pillar of their identity, and part of their self-proclaimed core values.^[8]

Criticism of Google often includes a reference to "Don't be evil".^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}

Avoiding conflicts of interest

In their 2004 founders' letter^[22] 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 agrees^[23] 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

• Evil corporation
• Googlization

References

1. ^ Google Code of Conduct
2. ^ Paul Buchheit on Gmail, AdSense and More
3. ^ "Don't Be Evil or don't lose value?". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-04-15. http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/dont-be-evil/2008/04/15/1208025168177.html?page=3. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Google Corporate Information - Our Philosophy
5. ^ Ovide, Shira (2011-06-23). "What Would 2004 Google Say About Antitrust Probe?". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/06/23/what-would-2004-google-say-about-antitrust-probe/. 
6. ^ How Google Dominates Us by James Gleick in the New York Review of Books
7. ^ Don’t be evil. Fact-check the company motto. - Valleywag on Gawker.com
8. ^ Google Hamburg Gallery
9. ^ Google CEO on censoring: "We did an evil scale"
10. ^ "Race to the Bottom": Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship: II. How Censorship Works in China: A Brief Overview
11. ^ Amnesty International
12. ^ Official Google Blog: Testimony: The Internet in China
13. ^ "Google's "don't be evil" motto becomes a fig leaf (谷歌“不作恶”口号沦为遮羞布)". People's Daily. 2009-06-19. http://it.people.com.cn/GB/42891/42895/9507795.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
14. ^ "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”！)". People's Daily. 2009-06-26. http://zb.people.com.cn/GB/14717/98407/120220/9547340.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
15. ^ 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. http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/19/content_11568367.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-26. 
16. ^ Official Google Blog: A New Approach to China
17. ^ Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra Is ‘Bullshit,’ Adobe Is Lazy: Apple’s Steve Jobs (Update 2)
18. ^ Leggett, Jonathon (2011-04-08). "Android Timeline 2003-2011". http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2011/04/android_timeline_2003_2011/. Retrieved 2011-09-01. 
19. ^ 10 Media Takes on the Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Proposal
20. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-green/breaking-google-goes-evil_b_676021.html
21. ^ Lawful Rebellion - Roger Hayes challenges Liverpool City Council, Birkenhead 7th March 2011, YouTube video, accessed 19 May 2011
22. ^ "Letter from the founders, "an owner's manual" for Google's shareholders". SEC. 14 Aug 2004. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504142742/ds1a.htm#toc59330_1. 
23. ^ 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). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2326/2156. 

External links

• Beyond Google and Evil: How policy makers, journalists and consumers should talk differently about Google and privacy
• "Google vs. Evil" at Wired magazine
• Google stop all censorship in China
• Google's corporate philosophy
• Google Code of Conduct