How Evil Is Google?

If you went through all the trouble to build a website with engaging content, hoping you could monetize it with advertising, what would you do if someone created a tool that allowed users to not just block your advertising, but replace it with ads of their own, and thereby hijacking your revenue stream.  You would not be compensated for any interactions or impressions this replacement ad receives. The company that replaced it, however, would.

This is the dilemma reported by Joseph Farah, the fiery editor-in-chief of WorldNetDaily ("Another Reason to Hate Google," August 23, 2007), and he's decided to speak out against it.

Webpronews.com also reported on the charge ("Google is Evil? According to Joseph Farah, it is," August 29, 2007). Both are looking for answers. So far Google has not responded, and I've not been able to locate much else about it on the blogosphere or on the net in general (I even condescended to do a a few searches on Yahoo to be sure there was no intentional suppression of information).

I can't find anything on the Google Toolbar landing page or full feature list page that would lead me to conclude that this tool is actually adware, but the fact that they don't appear to have answered the charge at all after a week is troubling. It seems it would be so easy to address if the charge was untrue.

It's entirely possible that Google is choosing to ignore Farah because they think that he is hopelessly unfriendly to anything the company does, since one chapter in his book is devoted to exposing Google as an evil company. But leave Farah aside. I'd like an answer to this charge, too.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I'm no friend to most banner ads. They are not usually utilized well, and even when they are, their effectiveness is questionable (though their are cost scenarios that might make their use justifiable as part of a larger strategy to communicate with customers). In general, if Google wants to provide a means for users' computers to track their own behavior and request ads more relevant to them, I can accept that, as long as that information is not fed back to companies wishing to make use of it for their own purposes, except in the aggregate.

However, a good sense of propriety demands that Google not replace ads on pages owned by companies with whom Google has no agreement to do so.

Does anyone have any more information on this? I'd love to hear your thoughts. - Cam Beck

Comments

[Paul Herring]

If I had to guess, I'd say that this isn't Googles toolbar. It's widely enough I think we would have heard of it before. I believe their terms and conditions states that information will be sent anonomously, meaning they couldn't target ads based on cookies, IPs, etc.

She should clear out her cookies and see if that helps.

[John W. McKenna]

Hey Cam

Thanks for recommending me to Pricilla for inclusion on the Personal Development List.

Now, it's my turn...

You’ve been tagged for the “Does Most Leadership Suck Challenge”. Check the link for details.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Take care...

JMW