Creative Execution: What Great Leaders Do to Unleash Bold Thinking and Innovation

Is Making Money Evil?

When they started the company, Brin and Page chose an unusual motto: “don’t be evil.” That philosophy permeated Google’s approach to the market, ensuring that its search page remained free of clutter and that search results got displayed without being influenced by advertisers or sponsors. As Google grew, it repeatedly turned down offers to incorporate content on its main page or give advertisers more prominent displays on search results. “You can’t buy your position in PageRank” became a familiar dictum at Google press conferences and investor meetings. Page and Brin billed themselves as the good guys of the Internet, bent on providing unfiltered, high-quality search, period. The quicker and more relevant the search, the ...