Comments on: Google Tries Being Evil; Ends-Up Being Plain Dumb

By: MB Web Design

MB Web Design — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:06:51 +0000

It’s possible someone other than Google left this in to throw people off the scent? Or maybe I’ve been watching too many Fox lunar specials and Oliver Stone movies….

By: Kevin_T

Kevin_T — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:20:24 +0000

Actually the fault would have been with the ACCC, the submission was not made anonymously but actually put onto the ACCC’s website, in their own format, anonomously. The ACCC made submissions anonymous on request, and yes, certainly Google requested anonominity on the public register, but it was certainly not submitted in a way that did not carry weight – it was even accepted by the ACCC after the closing date for submissions.

The submission itself is here:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/trimFile.phtml?trimFileName=D08+47343.p df&trimFileTitle=D08+47343.pdf&trimFileFromVersionId=830330

and all of the submissions regarding Ebay Australia’s proposal are on this page
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/823668/fromItemId/77 6499/display/submission
(there are a handful of others marked anonymous from private poeple)

Cheers, Kevin

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:55:36 +0000

This is just like common comedy story where the criminal is usually end up stupidly. Google must learn something from this.

By: PS3

PS3 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:11:29 +0000

Maybe Google are hoping for new PPC income on the term “triple bluff”. My brain is fried after a mad few days at work and maybe I am missing something, but my question is “why?”

By: Goran Web Design

Goran Web Design — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:50:19 +0000

Conspiracies always get people talking. It can go either way, business is business and sometimes people do things to benefit their business. There are also many people that could do this within and out of Google, its simple to pretend to be someone else on the Internet.

By: iPod Touch

iPod Touch — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:36:25 +0000

People used to be so found of Google. Google tries to preach about good business ethics but again and again they are proving to rather hypocritical. John iPod Touch's last blog post..Movie Trailer Watch

By: Information Man

Information Man — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:27:46 +0000

The more i read about google, the less i like them. It is a shame that yahoo and microsoft seem to be absolutely incompetent.

By: Warenwirtschaft

Warenwirtschaft — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:33:11 +0000

Nobody believes the “dont do evil”- stuff anymore. They are just too big for that. And humans always can make errors. I do believe the story

By: Top Rated

Top Rated — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:47:18 +0000

That's pretty funny actually. Even a Phd grad can make mistakes I guess. As far as Google doing no evil, I think that veneer has been worn pretty thin on most in the know. Top Rated's last blog post..Looking For Top Rated Point And Shoot Digital Cameras?

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:26:31 +0000

@Andy Beard – I gave that up about 10 links ago.

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:19:36 +0000

You forgot to stick nofollow on your Wiki link

Andy Beard’s last blog post..I’ve Been Robbed!!!

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:46:56 +0000

@Eric – yes, highly possible.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:10:33 +0000

What about the possibility that someone else made this, and then put google in the metadata?

By: Our Monmouth

Our Monmouth — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:23:28 +0000

Frankly, it doesn't surprise me. In this bloggers humble opinion there are many other questionable tactics Google has demonstated. When the stakes are this high the business world is cold and calculated. Our Monmouth's last blog post..What is a Virtual Assistant?

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:58:48 +0000

@REBG – I hear ya. It would be truly amazing that Google slipped-up here. Besides, it’s easy to copy over the meta data to another document. For example, if I open a document I received from Google, deleted all of the content, then added all new text–the doc would still have the original meta data.

By: Real Estate Blog Girl

Real Estate Blog Girl — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:48:56 +0000

Hmmm… I find the whole thing questionable. And believe me, I am all for making Google do some evil. or some stupid. However:
1. The source is questionable.
2. Before announcing the metadata issue did they track the ip? Someone dumb enough to leave metadata in a doc is dumb enough to forget to use and anonymizer.
3. If the Green River Killer could cover his digital tracks for years, I think Google could do it.
4. If Google wanted people to know they opposed the paypal relationship – why didn’t they just get one of their super attorneys to really do it right.

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Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:30:19 +0000

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By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:19:26 +0000

Devious, very devious indeed, unless they left it to some cockroach to do!

By: Dean

Dean — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:10:29 +0000

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

By: Gideon

Gideon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:09:18 +0000

D’oh!
but the concept that it might be an ‘easter egg’ does make the whole thing more interesting…
I wonder what noise is coming from inside Google; evil cackling or a muffled shot of someone being fired…