Scattered » Blog Archive » Google is Sicko

I see this as a very positive sign. It’s great that (#1) Google doesn’t keep their public facing employees on a very short leash and (#2) that the original article is still there for review, and not pulled down to try and cover it up.

I think that it’s excellent that Google makes room for their staff to have opinions, and even place them on a company related blog. I’d hope that most people would realize that the thoughts of one person do not necessarily represent Google as a whole, and whether some people may or may not realize that, I think it’s great that Google is willing to err on the side of non-censorship.

JaredB says:

JaredB says:

JaredB says:

nstryker says:

i think the most offensive thing isn’t the content, but the fact that it is a push to sell advertising. that pulls away from google allowing expression to google allowing an employee to act in an inappropriate sales tactic. google would never be able to, as a company, publish a similar statement. by hiding behind the supposed freedom they give their employees google can get away with “participating” in all kinds of questionable sales tactics.

nstryker says:

nstryker says:

nstryker says:

JaredB says:

But the whole point of that particular blog is to push advertising; it’s a blog designed for Google’s clients (current or potential) in the health care industry who pay for ads on Google’s network, so the sales aspect of it isn’t surprising to me at all.

Whether they “as a company” would be able to make such a statement is an interesting question, and you could easily argue that through this blog that’s exactly what they are doing.

To me it’s a refreshing breath of openness and honesty in the ad industry. You know that the salespeople for any other similar services are also saying the same types of things to their prospective clients, it’s just that they do it in person or behind closed doors rather than out in the open for everyone to see.

I thought she followed up with a satisfactory post apologizing for the confusion related to blurring the lines between her opinion and Google’s position, but the bottom line is that specific blog is very explicitly all about health care related advertising on Google, so it’s not unexpected for that subject to be brought up in her original post.

JaredB says:

Whether they “as a company” would be able to make such a statement is an interesting question, and you could easily argue that through this blog that’s exactly what they are doing.

JaredB says:

Whether they “as a company” would be able to make such a statement is an interesting question, and you could easily argue that through this blog that’s exactly what they are doing.

JaredB says: