Will Google Management Face a Pullman Moment?
April 2, 2018
We noted “Exclusive: Google Employees Organize to Fight Cyber Bullying at Work.” When I first scanned the headline, I wondered if Google was taking a stand to minimize social media users from beating up on people. Then I wondered if Google employees were trying to curb bullying at and within the Alphabet Google itself.
Could Google employees strike for better treatment of lower tier elite employees?
The write up explains that the employees want to offer “policies” to to improve the conduct of fellow employees. I learned:
Google should tighten rules of conduct for internal forums and hire staff to enforce them. They [the employees who want to curtail bullying] said they want to stop inflammatory conversations and personal attacks on the forums and see punishment for individuals who regularly derail discussions or leak conversations. The group also wants Google to list rights and responsibilities for accusers, defendants, managers and investigators in human resources cases. The group also desires greater protection for employees targeted by what it views as insincere complaints to human resources used as a bullying tactic and goading.
As Google tries to diversify and treat people equally, some behaviors may have to be modified. In my experience, outfits which perceive themselves to be elite create micro elites within the organization. The idea obviously is to be the most elite of the elite. This approach is part of what some have called the “bro culture” and what I describe as the high school science club approach. A group of “elite”—whom some might describe as arrogant and socially flawed individuals—stick together to preserve their eliteness. I noticed this behavior among the nuclear engineers at Halliburton Nuclear when I worked there in the 1970s. Some nuclear engineers were just more special; for example, the requisite training in math, chemistry, and physics and the cachet of graduating from the Naval Academy. A mere nuclear engineer from a traditional university was a second class person. You can imagine how this crowd reacted to a person like me who indexed Latin sermons and landed in this “elite” outfit.l
There is another issue looming at Google. This problem did not crop up when I moved from the Halliburton Nuclear outfit to Booz, Allen & Hamilton (another elite-type operation).
Google may be facing a unionization moment. That would make life exciting for the elite of the elite. I know that selling ads seems a bit down market, but from this modest grousing, the Alphabet Google elite may have to manage or face a Pullman moment.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2018
Will Google Make a China-Type Misstep in India?
March 30, 2018
India is on Google’s radar. It should be. Google has not been able to generate the type of traction it has in the US and Europe in China. Perhaps one reason is Google’s suggestion that Google “change” how it approaches digital information. That suggestion appears to have fallen on less-than-receptive ears.
Next up? India.
Google strives to make order out of chaos in search, in maps, and many other aspects of life. So, the search giant has turned its sights on a massive population that might just not be ready for Googlization: India. We learned more about how they plan to bring their order to a civilization that has thrived without Google for quite some time in a recent QZ story, “Google Maps Introduces New Features to Navigate India’s Chaotic Roads.”
According to the story, Google is tackling this challenge:
“From generating unique area-specific codes to using nearby landmarks to navigate to allowing users to add addresses that don’t appear on Maps yet, Google is attempting to bring order to the chaos. The company, which made Maps voice navigation available in Hindi in 2014, has now added six new local languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.”
This is a big challenge, but one we are confident Google is up to the task of. Another question is why the search giant is spending so much energy on this project. That, of course, boils down to money. India has millions of users waiting and according to a recent study, over 80% of Indian internet users frequent YouTube. With dollar signs in its eyes, we are confident Google will attempt to tame some of the quirks that make India so unique.
One hopes that Google will offer policy suggestions which keep India a warm and friendly place for the GOOG.
Patrick Roland, March 30, 2018
Google and AI Digital Shrooms
March 30, 2018
Magic mushrooms are a delightful way to experience reality as well as hurt your body and become addicted to drugs. They were a big symbol of the 1960s-70s counterculture. Beyond their hallucinogenic properties, medical experts discovered they have medicinal uses too. Mushroom enthusiast loves the mold, but there might be a way for them to trip without breaking any laws. The International Business Times reported that “Hallucination Machine Uses Google AI, Gives Magic Mushroom-Like ‘Trip’ Without Drugs.”
The possibilities of virtual reality have been imagined for years, but only now can we fully begin to explore the possibilities. One way researchers are testing virtual reality is with the Hallucination Machine, built on Google AI and uses a virtual reality headset. The Hallucination Machine allows users to “trip” without the drugs’ harmful effects. Scientists are fascinated with hallucinations and hallucinogens because they love to study the brain’s processes when it “trips out.”
Sussex University’s Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science published a paper in the Scientific Reports journal discussing how the Hallucination Machine compares to real drug-induced hallucinations.
Hallucinations help scientists focus their study on areas of the brain that are affected when there is an altered reality. Using hallucinogens alters the chemical composition of the brain, which makes it hard to isolate just the visual effects. So the team used Google’s DeepDream system, which uses a neural network approach to try and identify patterns and features in images. You can actually try it out for yourself online. DeepDream works by creating patterns and over emphasizing on certain recurring details that helps put our brain into perception overdrive, so much so that it starts to imagine stuff that isn’t actually there.
The Sackler Center conducted two tests. The first exposed participants to DeepDream and users experienced hallucinations similar to those caused by magic mushrooms. The second tested participants’ time perception, but the Hallucination Machine cannot recreate that psychedelic experience yet.
Replicating the magic mushroom’s tripping experience is still in the development phases, but give it a few more years and this will probably be a popular virtual reality program.
Whitney Grace, March 30, 2018
Google Does Not Buy Kentucky
March 28, 2018
Short honk: I read “MAP: A Look at Google’s Growing Empire.”
Google seems to like the Left Coast and the Right Coast. Bankrupt-loving Illinois makes the list along with Iowa, Texas, and ski country. But nothing in Kentucky. I assume the Commonwealth needs more than a morally questionable university, bourbon, horse racing, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a couple of riverboats.
Stephen E Arnold, March 28, 2018
Quote to Note: Mobile Ads As a Google Business
March 27, 2018
I read “Where Yegge’s Wrong.” In the write up I noted one sentence which popped out as a quote to note. Here’s the passage I highlighted in bright blue:
Mobile ads still completely suck as a business, BTW.
Interesting. As desktop search becomes a terra incognita for some young wizards, will Google find a way to de-suck mobile ads?
What happens if the surveillance capitalism thing begins to erode online advertising at Google? With Google’s costs becoming very difficult to control, some creativity thinking may be warranted.
Stephen E Arnold, March 27, 2018
Facebook and Its Advertising: In Newspapers No Less
March 26, 2018
Google is allegedly earmarking millions to help dead tree publications survive the digital winter. Will the money help? Probably not.
I noted what struck me as an interesting move. The BBC’s write up “Facebook Boss Apologizes in UK and US Newspaper Ads” reveals to non newspaper readers the company’s fascinating mea culpa white out.
I learned:
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken out full-page adverts in several UK and US Sunday newspapers to apologies for the firm’s recent data privacy scandal.
Let’s recap the view of some dead tree senior managers.
- Digital media recycles our content and does not pay producers of “real news”
- Facebook and Google have replaced traditional newspapers and magazines as the gatekeepers of what’s right and what’s wrong, saying, “Hey, that’s our job.”
- Digital giants are indifferent to the downstream impacts of their nifty technologies.
Now Facebook is using the dead tree channels to explain:
“This was a breach of trust, and I am sorry.”
I assume that some at Facebook see the matter as off the table.
Ironic? Nope, just implement the “it’s easier to apologize than ask permission” method.
My question, “Has Facebook bought some Adwords or hired Cambridge Analytica-type outfits to make this apology more efficacious?”
Stephen E Arnold, March 26, 2018
SEO Tips for Featured Snippets
March 26, 2018
We like Google’s Featured Snippets feature, at least when the information it serves up is relevant to the query. That is the tool that places text from, and links to, a site that (ideally) answers the user’s question at the top of search results. Naturally, Search Engine Optimization pros want their clients’ sites to grace these answer boxes as often as possible. That is the idea behind VolumeNine’s blog post, “Featured Snippets in Search: An Overview.” Writer Megan Duffy sees Featured Snippets as an opportunity for those already well-positioned in the search rankings. She explains,
There’s no debate that holding the primary spot on a search engine results page helps drive a ton of traffic. But it takes a long, disciplined approach to climb to the top of an organic search result. The featured snippet provides a bit of a shortcut. The featured snippet is an opportunity for any page ranked in the top ten of results to jump straight to the top with less effort compared to building a page’s search rank from, for example, from eighth to first. Having a featured snippet effectively puts you at search result zero and allows your business to earn traffic as the top search result.
Duffy goes on to make recommendations for maximizing one’s chances of being picked for that Snippet spot. To her credit, she emphasizes that good content is key; we like to see that is still a consideration.
Cynthia Murrell, March 26, 2018
Silicon Valley Management Method: Has Broflow Replaced Workflow?
March 23, 2018
In early March, we noted a story about Silicon Valley and evil. “How Silicon Valley Went from ‘Don’t Be Evil’ to Doing Evil” reported about the “bro” culture and a casual approach to customer privacy. There was a nod to fake news too. We noted this statement:
“[A] handful of companies or concentrated in one or two regions. The great progress in the 1980s and 1990s took place in a highly competitive, and dispersed, environment not one dominated by firms that control 80 or 90 percent of key markets. Not surprisingly, the rise of the oligarchs coincides with a general decline in business startups, including in tech.”
Today we noted “Here is How Google Handles Right to Be Forgotten Requests.” We found this passage suggestive:
Witness statements submitted by Google “legal specialist” Stephanie Caro (who admitted: “I am not by training a lawyer”) for both trials explained: “The process of dealing with each delisting request is not automated – it involves individual consideration of each request and involves human judgment. Without such an individual assessment, the procedure put in place by Google would be open to substantial abuse, with the prospect of individuals, or indeed businesses, seeking to suppress search results for illegitimate reasons.”
No smart software needed it seems. And the vaunted technical company’s workflow with regard to removal requests? Possibly “casual” or “disorganized.”
When considered against the backdrop of Facebook-Cambridge Analytics, process seems less important than other tasks.
Perhaps some management expert will assign the term “bro-flow” to the organizational procedures implemented by some high profile technology firms?
Stephen E Arnold, March 23, 2018
Patrick Roland, March 9, 2018
Google and Its Smart Software Take on Job Search
March 22, 2018
Google has a real entrepreneurial spirit for a multi-million dollar corporation. It seems like every time you turn around Google’s hands are in a new cookie jar, and chances are they will grab everything in sight. The latest industry to hold its breath while Google makes a splash is the hiring world. According a recent Independent story, “Google Launched its Own Jobs Search Engine—Here’s How It Works,” they are already deeply in the business.
The story states;
“[T]he new feature employs machine learning-trained algorithms to sort and organize job listings from a range of employment sites including LinkedIn, Monster and Glassdoor….So if you decide to find your next gig on Google, you’ll have a streamlined place to search and AI technology on your side.”
Google’s experience with machine learning and AI make it a real threat to actually outdo those sites, like Monster, that it currently uses. Our best guess is that Google will utilize those sites and then eventually attempt to overtake them. However, the market is not exactly easy pickings. Those aforementioned companies are sure to put up a fight, as well as social media, which is also throwing its hat into the jobs ring. Facebook, for one, is drastically expanding its job hunting services. This is sure to be a fistfight.
And let’s not forget LinkedIn and the US government’s service.
Perhaps Google is arriving at peak job time? Is it too late?
Patrick Roland, March 22, 2018
Open Source Panda Simplifies Data Analysis
March 20, 2018
An article at Quartz draws our attention to a potential alternative to Excel—the open source Pandas—in, “Meet the Man Behind the Most Important Tool in Data Science.” Writer Dan Kopf profiles Panda’s developer, Wes McKinny, who launched the Python tool in 2009. In 2012, Pandas’ popularity took off. Now, Kopf tells us:
Millions of people around the world use Pandas. In October 2017 alone, Stack Overflow, a website for programmers, recorded 5 million visits to questions about Pandas from more than 1 million unique visitors. Data scientists at Google, Facebook, JP Morgan, and virtually other major company that analyze data uses Pandas. Most people haven’t heard of it, but for many people who do heavy data analysis—a rapidly growing group these days—life wouldn’t be the same without it. (Pandas is open source, so it’s free to use.) So what does Pandas do that is so valuable? I asked McKinney how he explains it to non-programmer friends. ‘I tell them that it enables people to analyze and work with data who are not expert computer scientists,’ he says. ‘You still have to write code, but it’s making the code intuitive and accessible. It helps people move beyond just using Excel for data analysis.’
McKinney is inspired to improve data science tools because he likes to “empower people to solve problems.” In fact, Pandas sprung from his frustration at the limitations of available tools when he first came to embrace Python. See the article to follow the developer from his time as a high school athlete to his current, full-time work on Pandas and other open source projects, as well as more on Pandas itself.
Cynthia Murrell, March 20, 2018
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