ZDNet UK Begs for Google's Forgiveness

prostoalex writes "In light of the recent CNet ban by Google folks at ZDNet UK are now not sure whether they will get the same treatment, being a CNet company. But, just in case, they apologize profusely: 'Acting under the mistaken impression that Google's search engine was intended to help research public data, we have in the past enthusiastically abused the system to conduct exactly the kind of journalism that Google finds so objectionable. Clearly, there is no place in modern reporting for this kind of unregulated, unprotected access to readily available facts, let alone in capriciously using them to illustrate areas of concern. We apologise unreservedly, and will cooperate fully in helping Google change people's perceptions of its role just as soon as it feels capable of communicating to us how it wishes that role to be seen.'"

Comments

Any respect I had for ZDnet before

[BlackCobra43]

Is now gone. This is a childish and smarmy move I did not expect from any organization claiming to have integrity. The Internet is not a middle school playground, ZDnet. You won't look "cool" by doing this except to people that were already on your side.

Re:confusion arises

[maxpublic]

ZDnet's actions were unconscionable.

Oh, please. Stop being such a goddamned drama queen. And while you're at it, get your mouth off of Google's corporate cock for a moment and go back and read the original article - which, by the way, did nothing more than reveal a few trivial details about Google's CEO.

And I do mean trivial. Truly personal information, like an actual street address, or phone number, or where the man's kids went to school, was never revealed in the article. Ever. It was just a demonstration of some of the things you could find with Google, the implication being that perhaps this isn't always a good thing.

The CEO threw a hissy fit. Which made the situation even more amusing because it outlined both the capabilities of his search engine AND the probable reaction of most folks if they knew that the search engine could be used to collect both vital facts and trivia on their lives. The tantrum just made it clear that while Google muckety-mucks had no problem with this being done to OTHER people, it was a whole different story if it happened to THEM.

In technical terms we call such a person a "prick".

Max