What does "Don't be evil" mean? After reading Google's Code of Conduct, I think that the company is aware of four things:
1. Power corrupts. (Duh)
2. Google is immensely powerful.
3. For its own sake, and the sake of the 'greater good'- which the New Yorker article convinced me Google believes in- employees need to use common sense to keep their power in check and not exploit it, while still following basic guidelines that allow Google to operate and grow.
4. People make stupid decisions. Because there is so much riding on Google's reputation, anyone who falls under the jurisdiction of the code of conduct should be aware of what it is, in order to avoid blemishing said reputation.
It seems that the Search Engine Land blogger is trying to keep Google to its word. He is constantly finding loopholes and exploitations made by the company. Perhaps these errors can be interpreted as 'evil'. But even after reading the many links he references, I still feel I don't know enough about Google's operations to decide where they fall on the moral spectrum.
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