No question. This is a slick production. That said, just because a corporation is large and branches out doesn't make them a "Big Bad Evil Corporation." Knowledge = money if one is in the advertising and information business, so if they're interested in it, it would seem to be perfectly normal. I can't stand Google but it has nothing with any of this.

Their deal to get into the Chinese market cost them their integrity. Helping the Chinese to develop Internet software to track and bust dissidents was worse than disgusting. That this documentary didn't mention any of that very real evil while concentrating on the usual anti-corporation insinuations says to me that the producers apparently think that destroying free speech is okay, but capitalism is not.

This reminded me of Stuff White People Like #82, Hating Corporations :)

stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/05/82-hating-corporations/

Although what is narrated is factually true, it gives no context what so ever, which in its absence leaves this to appear quite biased. Leaving these tidbits of facts open for speculation or more research feels like a cheap ploy to achieve the narrative that the clip appears to want to achieve. And between speculation and research, I think we all know which one most people have a tendency to chose. Fox News has mastered this technique quite frankly.

No like for you!

Yup, more scaremongering tabloid journalism. It's like I'm reading "The Daily Mail" for geeks. Get a life.

this video angers me as its quite untrue and who ever made it has the wrong prospective on google. I quite like google and I think there a lot better then most big company's.

I see a lot of negative comments, produced by "just registered" users, most of them maybe fake and desperately trying to make the overall impression that the video is full of silly accusations ;)

Trynemjoel, your reasoning is sound and all, but the part about

"Leaving these tidbits of facts open for speculation or more research feels like a cheap ploy to achieve the narrative that the clip appears to want to achieve. And between speculation and research, I think we all know which one most people have a tendency to chose."

I just spent 20 minutes doing a smidge of research, just to make sure i wasn't putting my foot in my mouth by blurting out the following statement: Research and speculation leads to the exact same thing, in this case.

The web is jam packed with stuff google does that can't exactly be called good. Although it's not bunny-murdering-evil, it's undoubtedly evil acts for the sole purpose of making more $. I'm fine with evil companies, I don't really give a crap if Heckler & Koch earns their money making weapons that kill people. If H&K had "by people, for people" as their slogan with a teddybear in their logo, however... I might take offense..

A company branching out into all walks of life will raise it's worth by quite a lot, when a company tries to score a kind of monopoly on services it is crossing over to the dark side. You can say that they just offer alternatives, but their actual goal is to have as many people using as many of their services as possible, and when you can offer all the services you'd ever need... You're basically in power.. No matter what they say their motive is power.

Cliché but..
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The google founders are only human, and what started out as something good is quickly turning into something evil. Can only hope they learn a lesson from it.

I take an issue with the content of this entire thing, but specifically, the comment about Google Maps+Google Earth annoys me the most.

You know where most of the "criticism" over those two services comes from? The UK. A country that is effectively wired up to a major CCTV network that the government checks in on. I find that hilariously ironic.

And kudos to the Google CEO for stating EXACTLY what needs to be said to those people. It's truth, if you have something you don't want people to know about, then don't do it.

EDIT: Also, how is anything that is being listed "evil"? I'll give you a hint - it's not. It's business 101 people. If you want an evil corporation, let's just go with BP and leave it at that. Thanks.

Also, I know this was made four months ago, and so the whole BP Deepwater Horizon disaster hadn't happened yet, but in the big picture here, who's doing more harm?

A company that wants to sell you ad revenue and collect information? Or a company that's destroyed most of the Gulf of Mexico with toxins and doesn't know how to clean it up. A little perspective here, please.

so google is god?? i'm confused

There appears to be a smear campaign to discredit this video. First of all, the content is not a load of crap, it's true, second of all, I, like the producer of this video, and ANY NORMAL human being find Google's power or ANY other coorperation with that much power very SINISTER, uneasing to my life and not at all LEGAL (if we abide by true laws of privacy and common law) + power breads power and power ONLY corrupts. Stop being naiive, u are ALLOWed to question everything around you- good job on the video

We have already learned the hard way about corporations that become to big too fail. I have seen a major switch to the negative in accuracy of search results in favor of commercial return.Google has also entered into substantial government contracts. Their huge success may be their greatest problem.while the present owners seem fair minded and open this mega tech company in the hands of say a Murdoch type could turn the company that appears to be doing mostly good to a very powerful tyrant. I want the x out bad search results back.Owning the internet access points should be out.The free OS is a game changer.Microsoft has needed competition lets hope the same wont be said about Google.

I don't care about Google.. as soon as I turn off my devices, I'm 'off the grid'...

Also, their "DON'T DO EVIL" is the only strategy that works in the long run.. maybe, if other companies would adopt this strategy as their unmovable foundation, they'd be successful as well... (or at least liked by the general public; goodwill goes a long way these days).

You can easily replace "Google" with any of the following: Facebook, banks, credit cards, insurance companies and of course, government agencies.