Google

As I was conducting some research this morning I pulled up my favorite search engine, Google. I am often amused by the cute graphics around their logo at the top of the page. Today’s graphic is in braille. When you hover over it, it says, Happy Birthday Louis Braille!

I have been impressed with Google Earth, a program that is a free download and which enables you to see places all over the globe. Google has taken satellite photos and pieced them together in a fascinating user friendly interface. Despite the efforts of Homeland Security to get Google to take the site off, Google has defended the right to use public images by developing this educational interactive program.

The folks at Google have Ten things Google has found to be true on their corporate page. These items really stood out for me:

#6
You can make money without doing evil.
This section states that Google does not allow ads to be displayed on our results pages unless they’re relevant to the results page on which they’re shown. So, only certain searches produce sponsored links above or to the right of the results. Google firmly believes that ads can provide useful information if, and only if, they are relevant to what you wish to find. Google has also proven that advertising can be effective without being flashy. Google does not accept pop-up advertising, which interferes with your ability to see the content you’ve requested.

#9
You can be serious without a suit.
Google’s founders have often stated that the company is not serious about anything but search. They built a company around the idea that work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun. To that end, Google’s culture is unlike any in corporate America, and it’s not because of the ubiquitous lava lamps and large rubber balls, or the fact that the company’s chef used to cook for the Grateful Dead. In the same way Google puts users first when it comes to our online service, Google Inc. puts employees first when it comes to daily life in our Googleplex headquarters. There is an emphasis on team achievements and pride in individual accomplishments that contribute to the company’s overall success. Ideas are traded, tested and put into practice with an alacrity that can be dizzying. Meetings that would take hours elsewhere are frequently little more than a conversation in line for lunch and few walls separate those who write the code from those who write the checks. This highly communicative environment fosters a productivity and camaraderie fueled by the realization that millions of people rely on Google results. Give the proper tools to a group of people who like to make a difference, and they will.

I will continue to use Google as my primary search engine. I am impressed with their mission and ethics and encourage everyone to use it when searching for information.