Google and Record Keeping: The Spin Method
September 16, 2021
A number of years ago, I was working in Washington, DC, when I heard chatter in a meeting. Elsewhere in the same building a Labor Department group was trying to figure out why Google didn’t have employment records. My team and I were working in a unit of the Capitol Police and the information elicited a chuckle. Who knew if the info about Google’s inability to provide employment data was accurate or just a poke at the online ad vendor.
I thought about this anecdote when I read “Revealed: Google Illegally Underpaid Thousands of Workers across Dozens of Countries.” The write up explains in what seems a truthful way:
Google executives have been aware since at least May 2019 that the company was failing to comply with local laws in the UK, Europe and Asia that mandate temporary workers be paid equal rates to full-time employees performing similar work, internal Google documents and emails reviewed by the Guardian show. But rather than immediately correct the errors, the company dragged its feet for more than two years, the documents show, citing concern about the increased cost to departments that rely heavily on temporary workers, potential exposure to legal claims, and fear of negative press attention.
“Gee, we don’t have employment data” flashed across my mind. If the write up is accurate, today’s thought is “Gee, we can just try to hide this misstep.”
Seems as if there might be a pattern. I am not sure, but I do recognize selective memory, situational corporate governance, and ignoring rules and regulations.
Gee, what a surprise after a quarter century of regulatory indifference. Hard to believe? Nope. Just institutionalized behavior for a digital country perhaps?
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2021
Lucky India. Google Wants to Help
September 16, 2021
Google seeks to clear up a misunderstanding. Odisha’s OrissaPost reports, “Google Says Firmly Sees Itself as Partner to India’s Financial Ecosystem.” At issue is Google Pay and its Spot platform. It sounds like some reports about its partnerships with banks may have given the impression Google is trying to supplant or undermine existing financial institutions in India. We learn:
“The company emphasized that in every geography where Google Pay is present, its stance is consistently one of partnering with the existing financial services and banking systems to help scale and enable frictionless delivery of financial products and services and contribute to the goal of financial inclusion. In a blogpost, Google India said there have been a few instances where these offerings have been reported as ‘Google Pay’s offerings’, which fuels misinterpretation. ‘To be clear, we have always looked at our role firmly as a partner to the existing financial ecosystem that brings unique skill sets and offerings to drive further adoption of digital payments in the country,’ it said. … The internet major also noted that its Spot platform works as an additional discovery channel for many businesses to build and offer new experiences to users to drive adoption of their services. The use cases span across ticket purchase, food ordering, paying for essential services like utility bills, shopping and getting access to various financial products.”
See the write-up or Google India’s blog post for more specific details. The company emphasizes bringing partners onto the Google Pay platform connects them to customers around India who would otherwise be unable to access their services, helping to “level social inequalities.” Aw Google, always looking out for the little guy aren’t you?
Cynthia Murrell, September 16, 2021
Google Redefines Time
September 8, 2021
If you are Googley, you will adjust to the online ad giant’s manipulation of the space-time continuum. “Google Clock Bug Means Some Android Users Are Sleeping through Their Alarms” reports:
With many of us relying on our phones to get up in the morning (or any other time in the day), this is a bigger problem than it might at first appear to be. Google and Spotify do at least appear to have worked quickly to figure out what might be happening.
Perhaps those not happy with the Google manipulation of time, is it time to switch to an alternative device?
Apple sells some mobiles I believe. Are there issues with these devices? Nope, nothing that on device content scanning can cure.
Isn’t it wonderful to have choices in the mobile market?
Stephen E Arnold, September 8, 2021
Google: Fighting the Fate of Kleenex and Xerox?
September 2, 2021
Yep, genericide.
It is hard to imagine anything scaring Google, one of the most powerful tech company’s in the world. There is something that scare Google (other than net neutrality, Internet privacy laws, and breakup of monopolies: genericide. Cracked dives into the meaning of “genericide” and Google’s fears in the article, “Google Has Been Avoiding ‘Genericide,’ The Scariest Word in Trademark Law.” Companies want their products and brands to become household names, but not to the point where their t\trademarked items become permanently associated with an item. Scotch Tape, Kleenex, Q-Tips, and Frisbees are victims of genericide.
Genericide means:
“This term refers to death by becoming generic, causing companies to lose trademark rights when their brand becomes commonly referred to the product or service in general rather than the specific brand itself.”
Google does not want to lose the trademark on their brand name. Google’s heads want people to use Google as a verb, like “I googled that,” but only when they are referring to the Google search engine. If someone were to say “I googled that” when using Bing, it would technically be incorrect. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes an entry on “google,” but its lowercased and specifically refers to searching on the Google search engine. Google was so worried about losing their trademark that the term was taken to court:
“This specific control of the trademark has been effective. In 2017, a petition made its way to the Supreme Court that claimed that the term Google had become generic. The Court dismissed this. Google has effectively enforced their trademark to ensure that people are only “Googling” something when they are on Google. Any other web searching is just searching.”
Google may eventually lose its trademark if the term “googling” becomes too generic. The company could also lose its cultural relevancy like other former big names in the game. Or Google may live never lose its trademark like Disney will never lose its copyright on Mickey Mouse.
Whitney Grace, September 2, 2021
Google: Business Planning at the Highest Level Revealed
August 30, 2021
Here’s the recipe. Hire people who were spark plugs in their high school’s science club, on the math team, and participated in quick recall competitions with other like minded people. Then create teams and when something generates money, “put wood behind it.” This is a high school science club sports reference because everyone knows about baseball. Playing it? Sure, on the softball fields adjacent El Camino.
What’s the result?
The answer is brilliantly presented in “A Decade and a Half of Instability: The History of Google Messaging Apps.” The write up runs about 24,000 words. For reference, a “real book” is usually in the neighborhood of 100,000 words. This article is definitely in the Kindle self published target zone. But the inclusion of nifty graphics like the image illustrating the old and new approach to one of Google’s chat services; namely, a different icon:
The write up is an excellent summary, and it illustrates Google’s number two approach to innovation: Just put stuff up and see what gets clicks. No clicks, no problem. Try, try again. (In case you have not read my previous Google write ups, the company’s number one method of innovation is “me too.” Example: Inspiration from Yahoo and Overture monetization methods. As I say, “Google made lots of money; therefore, live with it.)
Please, read the source document in its entirety. I will offer a few observations:
- Gee, Google has been trying to get sustainable traction in the chat space for a long time
- Some of the ideas were good but suffered a remarkable deterioration under Google’s stewardship; for example Transformics’ technology which inspired Wave.
- Clear evidence that high school science club management methods were the inspiration for the film “Animal House.” Boy, does this product/service run down make Googzilla look confused, indifferent, distracted, or (maybe) dissociated.
I am waiting for “Animal House II: The Google Years.”
Stephen E Arnold, August 30, 2021
Management Moments: Googley Decider Methods
August 27, 2021
We wonder whether writer Bernard Marr has been watching the same Google we have. His piece at the SmartDataCollective declares “Analytics at Google: Great Example of Data-Driven Decision-Making.” Who looks at the company’s handling of the Timnit Gebru matter, the series of employee protests, the discontinued Town Hall meetings, and the management transition at DeepMind and thinks these are indicators of an intelligent company?
Without a shred of irony, Marr uses an example from the HR department to illustrate his point. Google once wondered whether managers were actually necessary and implemented Project Oxygen to find out. Using data from performance reviews, employee surveys, manager interviews, and employees’ “Great Managers Award” nominations, the company discovered the mind-blowing reality—bad managers make for bad results, but good managers can make a positive difference. Imagine that. Google assessed what made for bad or good managers and implemented certain policies based on the results. Marr summarizes:
“An Intelligent Company
Google is a great example of how good decision-making should be supported by good data and facts. Google clearly followed the five steps I outline in my book ‘The Intelligent Company: Five steps to success with Evidence-based Management’:
1. Defining the objectives and information needs: ‘Do managers matter?’ and ‘What makes a good manager within Google?’
2. Collecting the right data: using existing data from performance reviews and employee surveys and creating new data sets from the award nominations and manager’s interviews.
3. Analyzing the data and turning it into insights: simply plotting of the results, regression analysis and text analysis.
4. Presenting the Information: new communications to the managers
5. Making evidence-based decisions: revising the training, measuring performance in line with the findings, introducing new feedback mechanisms.”
All that is true as far as it goes, but that scope is quite narrow. Surely Marr could find a better company to hitch his book’s wagon to. Perhaps one with a reputation for making good decisions regarding its workers.
Cynthia Murrell, August 27, 2021
Googleland: A Strange Variant of English Indeed
August 26, 2021
I used the term “Googzilla” in my monograph the Google Legacy and I refer to everyone’s favorite mom-and-pop online ad service by this coinage in my lectures.
I overlooked the fact that Googzilla and its minion have a language beyond hissing, grunting, and snorting in courts around the world. An insightful person named allegedly Cyrus Shepard coined and trademarked the word “Googlespeak” for his article “Googlespeak TM How Google Limits Thought about Antitrust.” I would love to insert the required TM symbol when I use the word, but I don’t know how to pull this off in the two-bit editor I use to create blog posts in airports. Please, understand that Googlespeak is a trademarked word, and I do not want to trample on anyone’s rights. Will the Google be happy with the word Googlespeak? That I do not know. Who would have thought that Mickey Mouse ears would engender excitement or cause LexisNexis to become agitated by a personal grooming product named in a manner similar to Nexis. I am still afraid to write “Nexus”. Lawyers never sleep because billing…
The article explains that using a specific vocabulary with non-conventional meanings assigned to words has an impact on one’s thoughts. Go to Disneyland and you know what a Magic Kingdom is when you stand in line for a couple of hours and hand over enough money to support an individual living in a tent near the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a week, maybe more.
When in the country of Google, one obviously must speak the citizens’ language. Try out English in Andorra. Let me know how that works out for you. Same in Googleland. I learned:
Orwell observed that when you limit a person’s language, you can successfully limit their thoughts.
As it turns out, in order to turn a blind eye against growing antitrust concerns, Google has codified its own version of Newspeak and made it official company policy.
In documents obtained by The Markup, Google makes it obvious that certain words are taboo in both internal and external communication. The intent of these guidelines couldn’t be more obvious. One document, titled “Five Rules of Thumb for Written Communication,” spells it out clearly. “Words matter. Especially in antitrust law.”
If you live in Googleland, the information in Mr. Shepard’s write up will make no sense to you. For those who reside in other countries, the examples in the essay are likely to add to your understanding of the mom-and-pop outfit.
One problem: After a couple of decades most Googlers and Google users understand Googzilla quite well. Who wants to tangle with the big hypothetical monster. I don’t. I think the GOOG is just peachy keen. Antitrust? Is that a synonym for helping out folks like advertisers, users, Timnit Gebru, and 20 something employees working from home at reduced wage rates? Nope.
Stephen E Arnold, August 26, 2021
A Sporty Xoogler: True or False?
August 26, 2021
I am not sure about the “real” journalists laboring at the New York Post. One thing is certain. Those folks can craft an interesting headline; specifically: “Google Founder Admits He Created Revenge Site Against Estranged Wife.”
Larry the Kiwi recluse? Sergey the glass lover for a while? Or Scott Hassan?
Who?
The write up says:
Scott Hassan, 51, who wrote much of the original code that powers the search giant, is embroiled in a nasty divorce battle that has raged for seven years and involves millions of dollars, claims of treating his children unfairly — and even a shocking online revenge campaign.
The article points out some interesting life details:
“Without Scott, there would be no Google,” Adam Fisher, author of “Valley of Genius,” told The Post. “He was at Stanford and employed to write code for people who were big thinkers. He got to know Sergey and Larry, rewrote their code and convinced them that this was a product. They sold him founders’ stock. That worked out pretty well.”
Sporty. Sporty indeed.
The “real” news outfit’s report asserts:
After being accused by his ex, he has admitted to launching the site AllisonHuynh.com earlier this year, seeding it with links to positive articles written about his ex — but also links to court documents from three embarrassing lawsuits that involve her.
The write up includes images which appear to be “real” or took someone a bit of time to craft.
Now who’s is the testosterone-charged person in this legal matter. I noted this passage:
Within the documents posted are sexual allegations related to Huynh’s wrongful termination suit against her former employer Samuel Ockman and Penguin Computing in 2000. They claim that Huynh threatened to “kill [Ockman] and then herself” if he ever left her and “kept track of when Ockman was out with a new girlfriend,” according to the cross complaint filed by Ockman and his attorney in response to Huynh’s suit.
True? False? I don’t know, but I recognize sporty behavior when presented in the “real” news style of the estimable New York Post.
Stephen E Arnold, August 26, 2021
Google and Personnel Management: Myth or Mess Up?
August 25, 2021
I am not sure if “Google’s Payments Team Is Seeing and Exodus of Executives and Employees” is spot on or wide of the mark. (This chunk of management memorabilia will cost you; the story is paywalled.) Google is an exemplary commercial enterprise: Profitable, profitable, profitable. Did I mention profitable? It follows that its approach to personnel management is top of the class. Summa cum laude territory.
From this write up I learned:
Dozens of employees have left Google’s payments team in recent
months.
And what about leaving with know how?
The stream of exits by top talent and recent reorg present another challenge for Google as it tries to get ahead in the digital payment space and launch a bank account integrated into Google Pay.
No problem. No myth, no mess up. Google has steady hands on the controls. What could be better preparation for taking on Amazon:
Under the watch of senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan, Ready has made a bigger ecommerce push in an effort to take on Amazon, which has included partnerships with Shopify, Square and others.
Just so Googley. Management excellence in action.
Stephen E Arnold, August 25, 2021
Does Google Play Protect and Serve—Ads?
August 20, 2021
We hope, gentle reader, that you have not relied on the built-in Google Play Protect to safeguard your Android devices when downloading content from the Play store. MakeUseOf cites a recent report from AV-Test in, “Report: Google Play Protect Sucks at Detecting Malware.” Writer Gavin Phillips summarizes:
“With a maximum of 18 points on offer across the three test sections of Protection, Performance, and Usability, Google Play Protect picked up just 6.0—a full ten points behind the next option, Ikarus. AV-TEST pits each of the antivirus tools against more than 20,000 malicious apps. In the endurance test running from January to June 2021, there were three rounds of testing. Each test involved 3,000 newly discovered malware samples in a real-time test, along with a reference set of malicious apps using malware samples in circulation for around four weeks. Google Play Protect detected 68.8 percent of the real-time malware samples and 76.7 percent of the reference malware samples. In addition, AV-TEST installs around 10,000 harmless apps from the Play Store on each device, aiming to detect any false positives. Again, Google’s Play Protect came bottom of the pile, marking 70 harmless apps as malware.”
A chart listing the test’s results for each security solution can be found in the writeup or the report itself. More than half received the full 18 points while the rest fall between 16 and 17.8 points. Except for Google—its measly 6 points really set it apart as the worst option by far. Since Google “Protect” is the default security option for Android app downloads, this is great news for bad actors. The rest of us would do well to study the top half of that list. iOS users excepted.
Based in Magdeburg, Germany, research institute AV-Test pits the world’s cyber security solutions against its large collection of digital malware samples and makes results available to private users for free. The firm makes its money on consulting for companies and government institutions. AV-Test was founded in 2004 and was just acquired by Ufenau Capital Partners in February of this year.
Cynthia Murrell, August 20, 2021
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