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Comment by nojito | Hacker News Reader

Everyone should regularly be reminded that Google was caught paying professors to publish papers "friendly" to Google.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/paying-professors-inside-google...

Convincing the public that they are correct is how Google normalized the idea of sharing private information without oversight.

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They have so many levers to do this too. Their public policy team has sponsored hundreds of educational institutions, lobbying organizations, and think tanks.

https://kstatic.googleusercontent.com/files/5a1907d78237ab17...

Then with journalists they use a time-honored tradition Apple has been known for: Managing exclusive access based on positive press. Blogs which promote Google's political positions get exclusive interviews with Sundar Pichai, which when factoring in the ad clicks it brings in, is a multi-million dollar payday.

TechDirt is a special bridge between the two concepts: The same guy who writes the "news" runs a lobbying organization, Copia, which is on Google's public policy team payroll.

The web of corporate intrigue that powers watchdog groups is remarkable. The people who caught the professors are from the Campaign For Accountability, a "watchdog group" [1]. They pursue this role for a variety of issues. Their work on Google comes from a wider initiative they call the Google Transparency Project. One of the funders of said project is Oracle [2], which has...its own motives for bringing Google down a peg [3].

[1] https://campaignforaccountability.org/

[2] https://fortune.com/2016/08/19/google-transparency-project-2...

[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_v._Oracle_America

I remember a time in which Google could do no wrong in the public eye, times sure have changed. THough equally back then, Microsoft was the baddie everybody loved to hate and today, well - I do wonder if public perception of Microsoft has surpassed Google. My gut feeling says it kinda has. Quick google(ironic I know) shows that is also the case.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-samsung-microsoft-top-t... https://theharrispoll.com/axios-harrispoll-100/

I think I expressed this opinion before on this forum, bit Google is just another corporation now. I practically expect it to bend the rules to serve its needs. Same is true for other companies with followings ( looking at you Tesla ).

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