The Turning Point: When Did 'Don't Be Evil' Become a Marketing Slogan?

The question of whether large technology companies have lost their ethical way often misses a key point, according to some observers: perhaps they were never on that path to begin with. A prevailing viewpoint is that the idea of a benevolent tech giant was primarily a triumph of marketing, obscuring a fundamentally anti-consumer business model that has existed for years.

A Shift in Strategy, Not Principle

While the sentiment is that this shift is not new, many point to a specific period where the change became undeniable. The launch of Google Plus is often cited as a watershed moment, a 'New Coke' event for Google. This marked a transition from its 'classic' era—where it was fundamentally an advertising company creating useful side projects to drive ad views—to its modern incarnation.

The post-Google Plus strategy is seen as one focused on creating a tightly integrated ecosystem. The goal of every product, from search to email to productivity software, became to lock users in and extract as much value and data as possible. This represents a fundamental change from creating products that attract users to creating systems that retain them.

The Broader Context

This sentiment isn't limited to just one company; it's often applied to the entire cohort of big tech (FAANG). The core argument is that any corporation of that scale and business model will inevitably prioritize profit and data acquisition over user interests. The perception of 'evil' is sometimes seen on a relative scale, with some companies considered more aggressive in their anti-consumer practices than others.

More recently, these ethical evaluations have expanded beyond consumer data practices to include the geopolitical and humanitarian impact of a company's technology, such as providing technological resources to governments and militaries involved in conflicts.