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Google Puts the Brakes On Saving the World

Posted by kdawson on from the taking-a-little-longer dept.

An anonymous reader sends along a sharp and snarky article that takes Google to task for taking longer than expected to award $10M in its competition to find and fund world-bettering ideas. The submitter comments, "After using its tenth birthday as occasion to solicit philanthropic ideas from Web users through its Project 10^100, Google appears to have backed off from its commitment to provide $10 million in funding to the winner. While the company was supposed to reveal the Project 10^100 winner in February, Google has since delayed the vote once and now suspended it indefinitely, due to the overwhelming response — Google says it received 150,000 entries. A Google spokeswoman wouldn't commit to a new date, saying only it would be delayed 'for a while longer.' She further apologized for the company's 'over optimistic assumptions about how quickly we could analyze all the ideas that we've received.'"

35 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Hype by JCSoRocks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't really sound like they're copping out. It just sounds more like 150,000 projects is a whole lot more than they expected to get. They didn't plan on dedicating the resources necessary to get through that many submissions in a reasonable amount of time. Now they're delaying it... or you know, just assume that Google is horribly evil. Whichever.

    --
    You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    1. Re:Hype by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know what's taking them so long...my idea to replace inefficient jet-fuel-burning airliners with giant gliders and slingshots was so clearly superior to any other ideas they could have received, I don't understand why I haven't received my check yet.

    2. Re:Hype by Mendoksou · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmph! 21026 of my 25826 ideas were easily better than this! Seriously, what's with all you people spamming bad ideas like that at them? All your doing is making them take longer sifting through my ideas to tell me which one of them won.

      --
      DISCLAIMER: I am very rarely serious. If the above comment seems asinine makes no sense, it is most likely a bad joke.
    3. Re:Hype by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Now they're delaying it... or you know, just assume that Google is horribly evil. Whichever.

      Thanks for offering the choice. I'm gonna assume they're horribly evil.

      See, the truth of the matter is that Google is now assembling a database of all the possible ways the world could be saved. Meanwhile, they have a crack team of evil underlords working to make sure that Google has appropriate counter-strategies to the the world-saving methods with the highest PageRanks.

      This way, when Googol the Destroyer is summoned from the Plane of Infernal Terrors to wreak the End of Days upon the world, no measly humans will be able to execute a plan to thwart him.

      Mwua-ha-ha-ha.

      Humanity's only hope will be that the eminent rival sorcerors, Gatus and Joba, will overcome their mutual disdain in order to devise an artifact of true power, the One True Operating System with Built-in Global Web Search, that will condemn Googol to return to the Plane of Infernal Terrors. Unfortunately, the roving druid Stallmanx has thrown a wrench into the works by turning the hearts and minds of lesser sorcerors (and hedge wizards) against Gatus and Joba, and so our heroes must overcome the animosity of their lesser brethren before they can fulfill their quest.

      Will Gatus and Joba succeed? Will we ever find out what wonders lie beneath the surface of Stallmanx's Beard of Druidic Prowess? Will Googol succeed in bringing about the End of Days via the Rite of a Million Targeted Ads?

      Tune in to next week's broadcast of "Googol the Destroyer"!

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    4. Re:Hype by Niris · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm obviously going to win with my idea to feed the people from overpopulated countries to starving people. Gets rid of world hunger and overpopulation! :D If you want to be even more evil, tweak it so you're feeding obese people from overpopulated countries to starving people to get rid of three major problems with one stone! Hell, less people may mean less global warming, too. And pirates!

      Wait, people across the world are people too? LIES!

    5. Re:Hype by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm glad to see you've revised your plan to include gliders.

      Have you addressed the acceleration problems mentioned in this post by Gnick the last time your idea was discussed?

      That'd have to be a mighty long and soft slingshot band.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    6. Re:Hype by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      Working out little details like that will happen after we get the funding.

      I'm glad to see you've been following my work. You don't happen to be a venture capitalist, do you?

    7. Re:Hype by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The previous post has been removed due to copyright violation by The Church of Scientology.

    8. Re:Hype by JCSoRocks · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm a venture capitalist from Nigeria. Now if you'll just be kindly sending me your plans for your new transportation system along with a $1,000 processing fee we will begin the process of funding your project. Get back to me quickly! there are many projects we're interested in an only a limited number can be funded.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    9. Re:Hype by Rary · · Score: 5, Funny

      It just sounds more like 150,000 projects is a whole lot more than they expected to get.

      Now if only they could find someone who's really adept at searching through large quantities of documents and ranking the relevant results....

      --

      "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein

    10. Re:Hype by BluBrick · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm a venture capitalist from Nigeria. Now if you'll just be kindly sending me your plans for your new transportation system along with a $1,000 processing fee we will begin the process of funding your project. Get back to me quickly! there are many projects we're interested in an only a limited number can be funded.

      You have used contractions properly. You have made no spelling errors. Except for one word (beginning your final sentence), you have used capitalization appropriately. You have used correct grammar throughout your message. Your punctuation is sensible. And, if that were not sufficient, you have not even given a feasible-sounding fake name.

      YOUR A DESGRACE TOO THE NIGERIAN SPAMMERS GUILD!!!


      Walter M'Boti-Wakele,
      Membership Secretary, NSG

      --
      Ahh - My eye!
      The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
  2. Pay for submission by Twinbee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Make each entry cost $5-10 or whatever to enter. That would encourage only the cream to surface, whilst also giving Google incentive to actually finish the project.

    --
    Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
    1. Re:Pay for submission by aschran · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think you underestimate the difference between "free" and "not free." Making it cost even $0.01 would probably reduce the submissions significantly.

    2. Re:Pay for submission by cybernanga · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your plans would mean that ideas from people in poorer countries, where they don't have $5 to $10 just lying around, are not worth bothering about?

      --
      www.Buy-Proxy.com - A "buyer-driven" global marketplace.
    3. Re:Pay for submission by hwyhobo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Your plans would mean that ideas from people in poorer countries, where they don't have $5 to $10 just lying around, are not worth bothering about?

      Do you want to learn from those who succeeded, or from the failures?

      --
      End anonymous moderation and posting on /.
    4. Re:Pay for submission by sortius_nod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So being forced into poverty by countries/corporations that are exploiting you is failure?

      Gotta love these right wing nutjobs.

  3. Personally, I'm not crying foul by Cormophyte · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a lot of money, and a lot of submissions. It takes a long time to judge based on how much "good" the proposal can accomplish.

  4. No need, it's all taken care of by hwyhobo · · Score: 4, Funny

    The deadline for submissions was October 20, 2008

    Well, that's it, then. In November the Savior was elected, so no need for further ideas or awards. It's all in good hands now, thank you. Let's go back to Oprah.

    --
    End anonymous moderation and posting on /.
    1. Re:No need, it's all taken care of by Bloopie · · Score: 2, Funny

      In November the Savior was elected

      Huh? Didn't you know she and McCain lost? She can try again in 2012, if God tells her to.

  5. Re:150,000 entries...? Damn. by hwyhobo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Most of them are probably asking for Colbert to be elected President.

    --
    End anonymous moderation and posting on /.
  6. The Bird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Am I the only one who is amazed at the amount of times someone sticks the boot into Google for doing something constructive?

    When was the last time Microsoft (or any other large company) did anything like this? NEVER?? You'd be right.

    So some smart ass anonymous coward takes it on themself to bag Google because Google couldn't predict the number of entries they would receive for something that had NEVER been done before.

    AC

    1. Re:The Bird by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Am I the only one who is amazed at the amount of times someone sticks the boot into Google for doing something constructive?

      When was the last time Microsoft (or any other large company) did anything like this? NEVER?? You'd be right.

      Well, yesterday Bill Gates (who I think we can still equate with MS) gave away $8.1 million for medical research based on unconventional submissions (and open to the public). So the answer to your question isn't "never." It's "yesterday, and very very often." That's remarkably similar to what Google is trying to do here for the first time, but the main difference is that Bill Gates has given away something like $30 BILLION by now and he actually succeeded in finding a way to sort through submissions and get the money to the people who had ideas. If he stops now and Google hands out their prize tomorrow, and then they continue at this pace, they'll catch up to him in the year 32009. Yeah, Google is amazing and MS hates everyone.

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
  7. Low expectations... by Itninja · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This phenomenon recently happened at work. We are a non-profit attached to the State education system. We have less than 125 employees, but most of us get paid okay (for a non-profit) and have great benefits (because of the government association). However, it's not exactly Google or Microsoft; certainly not the sexiest place to work. Usually it takes weeks to get enough resumes when a new job is posted. But the HR folks did not account for rabid nature of current job seekers. They posted a new job opening on Craigslist and within three days had 15000 applicants. They eventually had to pull the opening while they waded through all the resumes...

    It was really quite crippling for them.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    1. Re:Low expectations... by Rorschach1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I posted a Craigslist job listing (in an area with no Craigslist region of its own and relatively little local usage of the adjoining regions) for a 10-15 hour per week packing and shipping job at a buck an hour over minimum wage and had 75 resumes in 3 days, with most of those applicants willing to commute 15 miles or more for 2-3 hours of work a day!

      As it turned out, just having 75 applicants doesn't mean it's easy to find someone who will actually show up on time, follow simple directions, and actually remember when I tell them three times in the same week that UPS next-day air packages always go in the express envelopes if they'll fit.

      I think next time I try, I'm going to add some simple qualifying test, like "tell me what the USPS first class international rate is for an 8-ounce package going to the Czech Republic." That way I can just throw out all of the cut-and-paste responses that didn't even read the whole listing. I will most certainly include a note that when I say to email or fax and not call or visit, that means that a call or visit will automatically take you OUT of the running for the job.

      So yeah, really really bad signal to noise ratio, even without $10M on the line.

  8. Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hmm . . . I looked at the headline and thought, "Oh Noes, G00gle iz teh 33-vil!"

    Then I read the summary. Actually, with 150,000 entries, it looks perfectly legitimate that they are delaying or suspending the vote. I thought, "Hmm, which editor would write a misleading, sensationalistic headline like that?"

    Well, I guessed correctly: The same genius that comes up with such diamonds as "Bill Would Declare Your Blog a Weapon". Is anyone surprised?

  9. Re:Easy as pie by davester666 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why even bother with entries? Just google for "best world bettering idea".

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  10. Rabid? by Sybert42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you needed work, I don't think you would consider yourself "rabid". They are doing what they have to do.

  11. May be a criminal offense by Animats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To advertise a "skill contest" and not pay off on the scheduled date is usually a violation of the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act. Not good, Google.

  12. Project 10^100 *beta* by mcbutterbuns · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey, come on guys! We can't fault them for this. The project is only in beta!

  13. Pick me! by T+Murphy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope they pick my idea: hold a competition to provide $9 million to someone with the best idea on how to help the world.

    --
    My webcomic
  14. The Google Way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why don't they just identify one of the entries as a Beta Winner? Then they can prolong the actual decision indefinitely.

  15. Interestingly, Bill Gates solicited submissions by tlambert · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not to be an apologist, just stating facts...

    Interestingly, Bill Gates solicited submissions similar to the ones the Google contest was intended to solicit, back in the mid 1990s, prior to completing his book "The Road Ahead". This was right around the time he founded "the William H. Gates Foundation", which was later renamed to "the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation".

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

    He did this with an initial $94 million stock gift.

    Now, while he's technically not identical to Microsoft... he's probably close enough.

    -- Terry

  16. Is this the year of GoogleGroinkick? by miffo.swe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Google goes out of their way of doing something nice and "people" kick them in the groin repetedly. The people feels a lot like astroturfers trying to portrait Google in a bad manner. I suspect its very irritating for some unnamed companies with goodwill down in the slimepit that a successful company like Google can be liked by their users.

    It would be nice of the editors would stop posting crap articles like this whos only purpouse is badmouthing, straight from the competition. Its a different kind of FUD but still the same of the old and tried.

    The more i read things like this the more i feel for Google. They really need to start buying politicians and astroturfers if this keeps up just as their competition already does.

    --
    HTTP/1.1 400
  17. Work hours to get it sorted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Fun fact: If it took an average of 20 minutes to review each entry, it would take 50000 hours for a single person to go through all of them. That's 6250 days, or a little over 17 years.

  18. Re:Easy as pie by AaxelB · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why even bother with entries? Just google for "best world bettering idea".

    Hey, it worked! It only returned one result, so I know it must be true. So, google says the best world bettering idea is:

    Re: (Score:2, Funny). by davester666 (731373). Why even bother with entries? Just google for "best world bettering idea". ...

    Dude, you totally called it!