Comments on Digital Street Smarts: The Google Decade - such an impact but is the trus...

We're in a agreement. Google is a great compan...

2010-01-15T10:32:45.600-05:00

We're in a agreement. Google is a great company. Just not sure they can continue to stick to their founding mission of organizing the world's information and customer experience with their growth in so many directions. As you point out, a more accurate missions is maximizing shareholder value. For example, they are now building phones which puts them in direct competition with the carriers that have supported then with Android. Also, did they figure out the customer service model for Nexus One? This next decade is going to see Google battle with Apple as the digital landscape shifts from PCs to touch-screens and mobile applications. It should be interesting to witness...

The headline is, I think, a bit misleading. If you...

2010-01-15T09:16:08.861-05:00

The headline is, I think, a bit misleading.
If you mean "can we trust Google to...

- be almost perfect technically: provide services with outstanding reliability and functionality

- be honest, trustworthy, and promote open interchange of information: "Don't be evil"

- consistently act in a way to maximize long-term shareholder value

...the answer is clearly "yes." (And I can think of a few very minor counter-examples to both points but the overall pattern is unparalleled.)

If you mean, on the other hand, "can I trust that Google services will always and exclusively be the best option for me or my business to profit" then the answer is no. If you mean "should I only advertise through Google," the answer is clearly no.