Don't be evil

The motto was first suggested either by Google employee Paul Buchheit at a meeting about corporate values that took place either in early 2000{{cite web |url=http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-07-16-n55.html |first=Paul |last=Buchheit |title=Paul Buchheit on Gmail, AdSense and More |publisher=Blogoscoped |date=25 January 2007 |access-date=4 April 2013}} (quoting from: Jessica Livingston, Founders at Work, {{ISBN|978-1590597149}}) or 2001 or, according to another account, by Google engineer Amit Patel in 1999.{{cite news |location=AU |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/dont-be-evil-or-dont-lose-value-20080416-gds9o9.html |first=Asher |last=Moses |title=Don't Be Evil or don't lose value? |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 April 2008}} Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said he "wanted something that, once you put it in there, would be hard to take out", adding that the slogan was "also a bit of a jab at a lot of the other companies, especially our competitors, who at the time, in our opinion, were kind of exploiting the users to some extent".

While the official corporate philosophy of Google{{cite web |title=Ten things we know to be true |url=https://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/ |website=Google Company |access-date=25 November 2011}} does not contain the words "Don't be evil", they were included in the prospectus (on Form S-1) of Google's 2004 IPO (a letter from Google's founders, later called the "'Don't Be Evil' manifesto"): "Don't be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served—as shareholders and in all other ways—by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains."{{cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/06/23/what-would-2004-google-say-about-antitrust-probe/ |work=The Wall Street Journal |first=Shira |last=Ovide |title=What Would 2004 Google Say About Antitrust Probe? |date=23 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003161838/http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/06/23/what-would-2004-google-say-about-antitrust-probe/ |archive-date=3 October 2015 |access-date=2 October 2015 |url-status=live |quote="Our goal is to develop services that significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible. In pursuing this goal, we may do things that we believe have a positive impact on the world, even if the near term financial returns are not obvious..."Don't be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served—as shareholders and in all other ways—by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains. This is an important aspect of our culture and is broadly shared within the company..." |df=dmy}} The motto is sometimes incorrectly stated as Do no evil.{{Citation |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/08/18/how-google-dominates-us/ |date=August 18, 2011 |title=How Google Dominates Us |first=James |last=Gleick |issue=13 |author-link=James Gleick |journal=The New York Review of Books|volume=58 }}{{cite web | url = http://gawker.com/valleywag/tech/google/dont-be-evil-factcheck-the-company-motto-153908.php |title=Don't be evil. Fact-check the company motto |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319042259/http://gawker.com/153908/dont-be-evil-fact-check-the-company-motto|archivedate=2016-03-19 |publisher=Gawker |first=N|last=Douglas |date=2006-02-09}}

By early 2018, the motto was still cited in the preface to Google's Code of Conduct:

"Don't be evil." Googlers generally apply those words to how we serve our users. But "Don't be evil" is much more than that...

The Google Code of Conduct is one of the ways we put "Don't be evil" into practice...

Between 21 April and 4 May 2018, Google removed the motto from the preface, leaving a mention in the final line: "And remember... don't be evil, and if you see something that you think isn't right – speak up!"{{cite news |last1=Conger |first1=Kate |title=Google Removes 'Don't Be Evil' Clause From Its Code of Conduct |url=https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393 |access-date=19 May 2018 |work=Gizmodo |date=18 May 2018}}

In their 2004 founders' letter{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504142742/ds1a.htm#toc59330_1 |publisher=SEC |location=USA |title=Letter from the founders, "an owner's manual" for Google's shareholders |date=14 August 2004}} prior to their initial public offering, Larry Page and Sergey Brin argued that their "Don't be evil" culture prohibited conflicts of interest, and required objectivity and an absence of bias:

{{blockquote|Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others. Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating. We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly. This is similar to a well-run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers' payments. We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see.}}

In 2009, Chris Hoofnagle, director of University of California, Berkeley Law's information privacy programs, stated that Google's original intention expressed by the "don't be evil" motto was linked to the company's separation of search results from advertising. However, he observed that clearly separating search results from sponsored links is required by law, thus, Google's practice had since become mainstream and was no longer remarkable or good. Hoofnagle argued that Google should abandon the motto because:

{{blockquote|The evil talk is not only an albatross for Google, it obscures the substantial consumer benefits from Google's advertising model. Because we have forgotten the original context of Google's evil representations, the company should remind the public of the company's contribution to a revolution in search advertising, and highlight some overlooked benefits of their model.}}In a 2013 NPR interview, Eric Schmidt revealed that when Larry Page and Sergey Brin recommended the motto as a guiding principle for Google, he "thought this was the stupidest rule ever", but then changed his opinion after a meeting where an engineer successfully referred to the motto when expressing concerns about a planned advertising product, which was eventually cancelled.{{Cite news |title=Google Chairman Eric Schmidt Plays Not My Job |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/05/11/182873683/google-chairman-eric-schmidt-plays-not-my-job |access-date=2022-11-06}} Journalists have raised questions about the actual definition of what Google considered "evil".{{cite web |url=https://qz.com/284548/what-google-really-means-by-dont-be-evil/ |first=Leo |last=Mirani |work=Quartz |title=What Google really means by "Don't be evil" |date=21 October 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/what-is-evil-to-google/280573/ |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group |location=USA |title=What Is 'Evil' to Google? |date=15 October 2013}} On the user-facing 'What We Believe' page, Google appeared to replace the original motto altogether (a carefully reworded version stood as of April 10th, 2015, "You can make money without doing evil", which varied significantly from the absolute imperative of DON'T be evil).

Critics of Google frequently spin the motto in a negative way, such as InfoWorld's 2014 article "Google? Evil? You have no idea".{{cite magazine |url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/2610434/cringely/google--evil--you-have-no-idea.html |title=Google? Evil? You have no idea |date=13 March 2014 |magazine=InfoWorld, Inc |location=USA}}{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-israel/why-google-is-evil_b_3716786.html |title=Why Google Is Evil |date=7 October 2013 |work=The Huffington Post |location=USA}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs/ |title=Steve Jobs: "Google's Don't Be Evil Mantra is Bullshit" |date=30 January 2010 |magazine=Wired |location=USA}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/19/does-dont-be-evil-still-apply-to-google.html |title=Does 'Don't be evil' still apply to Google? |website=CNBC News |date=19 August 2014 |publisher=CNBC |access-date=21 May 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/19/does-dont-be-evil-still-apply-to-google.html |title=Google's 'Be Evil' business transformation is complete: Time for the end game |website=The Register |date=1 November 2021 |publisher=The Register |access-date=1 June 2024}} Google's 2012 announcement to "begin tracking users universally across all its services" (via "Google Plus" accounts) prompted early privacy and anti-trust concerns referencing the motto,{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/google-kills-reader-force-feeds-us-google-dont-be-evil-1127159 |title=Google Kills Reader, Force-Feeds Us Google+: Don't Be Evil? |date=14 March 2013 |publisher=IBT Media |location=USA}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/technology/the-plus-in-google-plus-its-mostly-for-google.html |title=The Plus in Google Plus? It's Mostly for Google |date=14 February 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=USA}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/06/opinion-google-is-evil/ |first=Rory |last=O' Connor |title=Google is Evil |date=12 June 2012 |magazine=Wired |location=USA}}{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/don-t-be-evil-how-google-evolved-from-cuddly-startup-to-antitrust-target-20201021-p5671g.html |first=Michael |last=Liedtke |title='Don't be evil': How Google evolved from 'cuddly' startup to antitrust target |date=21 October 2020 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Sydney, Australia}} like "Google's Broken Promise: The End of 'Don't Be Evil'" on Gizmodo.{{cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/googles-broken-promise-the-end-of-dont-be-evil-5878987 |first=Mat |last=Honan |title=Google's Broken Promise: The End of "Don't Be Evil" |date=24 January 2012 |website=Gizmodo |location=USA}}{{cite web |url=https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/is-google-now-officially-evil/ |title=Is Google Now (Officially) Evil? |date=28 February 2012 |publisher=Big Think |location=USA}} In the same year, major social networks even co-developed a Don't be evil browser bookmarklet (specifically to expose alleged SERP manipulation promoting Google-owned content over that of others).{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/24/facebook-twitter-myspace-google-add-on |title=Facebook, Myspace and Twitter chide Google with 'Don't be evil' add-on |date=24 January 2012 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=Australia}}

On May 16th, 2013 Margaret Hodge MP, the chair of the United Kingdom Public Accounts Committee, accused Google of being "calculated and unethical" over its use of highly contrived and artificial distinctions to avoid paying billions of pounds in corporation tax owed by its UK operations.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/16/google-told-by-mp-you-do-do-evil |date=May 16, 2013 |title=MP on Google tax avoidance scheme: 'I think that you do evil' |author=Simon Bowers |work=the Guardian}} The company was accused by the committee, which represents the interests of all UK taxpayers, of being "evil" for not paying its "fair amount of tax". She told Matt Brittin, head of Google UK, "I think that you do evil".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22554548 |title=Margaret Hodge labels Google tax record 'evil' |work=BBC News}} In 2015, the UK Government introduced a new law intended to penalise Google and other large multinational corporations' artificial tax avoidance.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31942639 |title=Budget 2015: 'Google Tax' introduction confirmed |work=BBC News|date=18 March 2015 }}

Google's alleged uses of multi-platform mass surveillance,{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/google-facebook-surveillance-privacy-2/ |title=Facebook and Google's pervasive surveillance poses an unprecedented danger to human rights |work=Amnesty International|date=21 November 2019 }} search engine results and other technologies to politically censor content visibility,{{cite web |url=https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/dont-be-evil/ |title=Don't be evil? In ironic twist, Google steps all over its own motto |work=The Carolina Journal|author=Jon Guze|date=18 January 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/google-search-algorithms-are-not-impartial-they-are-biased-just-ncna849886 |title=Google search algorithms are not impartial. They can be biased, just like their designers.|work=NBC News|author=Noah Berlatsky |date=21 February 2018 }} manipulate public opinion,{{cite web | url=http://www.newgeography.com/content/007521-google-whatever-happened-dont-be-evil |title=Google: Whatever Happened to 'Don't Be Evil'? |work=NewGeography.com |author=Joel Kotkin |date=24 July 2022 }} sway elections and develop weapons{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/05/google-changes-motto-from-dont-be-evil-to-be-skynet.html |title=Google Changes Motto From 'Don't Be Evil' to 'Be Skynet' |author=Brian Feldman |work=New York Magazine|date=30 May 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/technology/google-project-maven-pentagon.html |title=How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google |author=Scott Shane, Cade Metz and Daisuke Wakabayashi |work=New York Times|date=30 May 2018 }} triggered new protests under the former motto. "Google is evil" according to the conservative "Internet Accountability Project", citing Google swinging as many as 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US election.{{cite web |url=https://theiap.org/media/in-the-news/google-is-evil/ |title=Google is Evil |work=Internet Accountability Project|date=16 September 2020 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/google-interfered-elections-41-times-last-16-years-media-research-center-says |title=Google has 'interfered' with elections 41 times over the last 16 years, Media Research Center says |author=Brian Flood |work=Fox News|date=18 March 2024 }}

In 2015, The Commercial Appeal reported that "critics say Google's recent moves belie search giant's motto".{{cite web |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/business/turning-evil |title=Turning 'evil': Critics say Google's recent moves belie search giant's motto |website=The Commercial Appeal |publisher=Journal Media Group |access-date=21 May 2015}}

On 29 November 2021, three former Google employees filed a lawsuit alleging that Google's motto "Don't be evil" amounts to a contractual obligation that the tech giant violated, that Google broke their own moral code by firing them as retaliation for their efforts against "evil", in what the trio thought were in accordance with the principle, in drawing attention to and organizing employees against controversial projects, such as work for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the first Trump administration which, as they claimed, amounted to "doing evil", and as such deserve monetary damages.

The plaintiffs' lawyer, Laurie Burgess, says Google employees can be fired for not abiding by the motto.

There are all sorts of contract terms that a jury is required to interpret: "don't be evil" is not so "out there" as to be unenforceable. "Since Google's contract tells employees that they can be fired for failing to abide by the motto, 'don't be evil,' it must have meaning." - plaintiffs' lawyer, Laurie Burgess

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