Google has faced a lot of criticism in the press lately as a result of some decisions and the slow decline of their product offerings.
In one New York Times article, Google is criticized for raising the price of day care for Google employees' children up to 75%. Even Sergey Brin is quoted to not have a heart:
At a T.G.I.F. in June, the Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he had no sympathy for the parents, and that he was tired of “Googlers” who felt entitled to perks like “bottled water and M&Ms,” according to several people in the meeting.
(Well, sorry, Sergey, but you did offer these perks to begin with!)
In another CNN Money article, Google is criticized as having sub-par search -- though if Microsoft and Yahoo step in together, that may change:
It's a chicken and egg argument - only with scale can Microsoft compete with Google, but Microsoft cannot get scale without successfully competing with Google. Unless, that is, it combines with Yahoo. It doesn't want or need Yahoo's people or its search technology, though it would probably take them on happily. What it wants is the search volume, and the Yahoo brand that would seem to be required to continue attracting it.
In a third article, Google has been attacked for serving irrelevant ads on MySpace and having poor algorithms for social networking.
So, is Google starting to lose its innocence? It's possible. As many forum members suggest, the media is turning against Google -- but perhaps that's because that turn is warranted (especially as it relates to day care). "Do no evil" is starting to not sound like Google anymore. Google is starting to deserve the bad publicity.
On the other hand, forum members argue that Google isn't changing at all, but mainstream media is getting sick and tired of Google's long-standing innocence. After all, Google has its own problems that people have been letting them get away with -- such as privacy concerns -- and many people have had it.
The discussion continues and Google is getting a beat of the whip. But in many ways, the timing may seem right.
Forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums and Search Engine Watch Forums.
