Everyone knows Google’s corporate
slogan – Don’t Be Evil.
Note, it’s not don’t do evil. It’s not
an absolute. We often face hard choices as adults and corporations.
Absolute good vs. evil choices are rare.
Still, the effort is worthwhile, on the
bottom line. Because Google is perceived as being ethical, as doing
its best not to “be” evil, a lot of people (me included) cut it a
lot of slack. And the more slack you earn as an Internet company, the
more credibility you have, the more money you can make.
It should also be noted that evil is a
relative variable here. Evil compared to what?
Well, Yahoo for one.
A decade ago, Yahoo made a Clued-in
move when it bought Seth Godin’s company, Yoyodyne, and made him
(briefly) its chief marketing yahoo. But Godin’s ethics soon grated
on the higher-ups, and Yahoo has been in the ethical gray area ever
since.
I would argue that this, along with its
decision to become a “media company” or portal, taking its eye
off the search ball, enabled Google to come into being in the first
place.
But that’s how Yahoo defines itself, as
a “media company.” It now has a market cap of $35 billion. Are they glad they dissed Godin
and do business with slime? Maybe they are. But Google is worth
almost $124 billion.
That kind of number is frightening to
people like NBC President Jeff Zucker, who is trying hard to talk it
down.
(Parent General Electric is now worth $336 billion)
Zucker’s claim, which was repeated
endlessly during the dot-boom (and which AOL finally bought, creating
the dot-bomb) is that Internet assets aren’t “real.””"Google
was built on the power of math and algorithms. NBC is built on
brilliant programming.”
The statement is false. Both Google and
NBC are built on the belief of the audience in what those companies
are doing. It’s about credibility. Which in turn is built on the idea
that the company isn’t “being evil.”
Besides, NBC is just an American
programming production house, which owns part of its distribution
arm. Google is a global operator delivering everyone’s content, NBC’s
included, quickly, to whoever wants it. Think of it as an NYSE of
knowledge. Does that make it a little more real?
So long as Google keeps its eye on the
ball, which is its credibility, I’ll continue to forgive it a lot.
Just as I forgive NBC for “20 Good Years”
