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Top Google PR Blunders

 & Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News

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Google Turns 13: Biggest Hits and Misses

Google celebrated its 13th birthday today, and in that time, it has had a number of product hits and misses. As with any big company, it has also had to contend with a number of PR snafus, from unauthorized data collection to antitrust investigations.

Most recently, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt was on Capitol Hill defending his company's search tactics. Google does not favor its own products in search results or "cook" its results to give it the upper hand, Schmidt told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Schmidt made his appearance after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed that it was conducting an investigation into Google's business, though it provided no details about what that probe might entail. The EU, however, is also looking into whether Google is abusing its dominant position in search.

Google has also tangled with the Chinese government over censored search results. After allegations of hacks originating in China, Google had to decide if it should serve up uncensored results and risk losing its content provider license in the country. It settled on a hybrid approach. There's also the issue of Street View; it's cool, but is it too invasive?

Here at home, the search giant has been caught up in a controversy over: the unauthorized collection of data traveling over Wi-Fi networks; location-based apps; Android malware; its effort to digitize books; and aggregate the Web's news.

Check out the slideshow above for more details on Google's PR snafus. Can you think of any others? Let us know in the comments.

Wi-Fi Data Collection

Last year, however, Google got into some hot water when it admitted that equipment attached to its Street View cars had inadvertently collected personal information that consumers sent over unencrypted wireless networks. Initially, Google said it "collected only fragments of payload data," but it later said it collected entire e-mails, URLs, and passwords. The revelation prompted inquiries from privacy officials all over the world. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the matter in October 2010, though in June, a California district judge refused to dismiss a class-action suit that accused Google of violating wiretap laws with the data collection. Recently, Google said that it will allow users to opt out of having their Wi-Fi location data tracked.

Android Malware

In recent months, Google has removed a number of apps from the Android Market for malware-related offenses and earlier this year, it remotely nuked some of those apps from users' phones. On the search front, Google last month also announced plans to issue warnings to users who might have been infected with malware on the Web. According to August data from Lookout Security, app- and Web-based threats are increasing in prevalence and sophistication, and Android users are now 2.5 times more likely to encounter malware than they were six months ago.

China

Back in January, Google suddenly announced that it would stop censoring its search results in China. The company had discovered that attacks originating in China had unsuccessfully tried to access Google intellectual property as well as the Gmail accounts of several Chinese human rights activists. After discussions with Chinese officials, Google followed through on that promise in March, when it started re-directing its Google.cn traffic to the unfiltered Google.com/hk. While Google initially said it would risk losing its ability to do business in China over the issue, it relented and adopted a hybrid approach. The search component is still an unfiltered option going through Google.com/hk, while other Google.cn services that have traditionally been unfiltered, like music and text translate, are available via Google.cn.

Antitrust Investigation

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt appeared on Capitol Hill recently to defend his company’s search tactics. Google does not favor its own products in search results or "cook" its results to give it the upper hand, Schmidt told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Schmidt made his appearance after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed that it was conducting an investigation into Google’s business, though it provided no details about what that probe might entail. The EU, however, is looking into whether Google is abusing its dominant position in search.

Google Buzz

Google introduced Buzz in February 2010. It added a "news feed" feature to Gmail and was also incorporated into Google's mobile offering on Android phones and the iPhone. Amidst concerns over what information was displayed publicly, however, Google soon tweaked Buzz to give user more control over their settings. This did not appease all users, however, and a class-action suit was born. Google later settled that case for $8.5 million and later reached a privacy settlement with the FTC. Buzz is still around, but Google’s social efforts have largely switched over to its nascent Google+ social network, which recently opened to the public.

Google News

Google News serves as a hub for news content across the Web, but not everyone likes it. News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, for example, has been particularly vocal about his dislike for the service, saying in 2009 that it was tantamount to stealing. Google argued that its news aggregator simply points users to content online and actually helps drive traffic to news sites. Is Google News the death of journalism or a means to introduce people to more sources of news?

Location Tracking

The issue of location tracking picked up steam in April when two researchers said that location information for Apple's iPhone was stored in an unencrypted file that was backed up on any device with which a user synced their iOS 4+ device. Apple later denied that it tracks its users, and said the iPhone was only storing such a large amount of data because of a "bug" that it fixed in a subsequent update, but attention naturally turned to other mobile OS providers, like Google's Android. Google said that any location-based data it collects via Android is anonymous in nature and the majority of that information is deleted after one week, but Google was later sued over the issue.

Street View

Google’s Street View feature provides 360-degree, street-level photographs of cities around the world. It’s an interesting way to check out a neighborhood, restaurant, or far-away locale, but there have been privacy concerns. In May, Google voluntarily opted out of enlarging its Street View program within Germany. In October, Italian officials required Google to provide adequate warnings about when its Street View vehicles would be passing through. A month before, Google was banned from expanding Street View in the Czech Republic due to security concerns. Israel, however, recently announced that it would allow Google’s Street View cars in the country with certain restrictions.

Google Books

Google’s efforts to produce an online repository of books dates back to 2004, when Google partnered with major university libraries to scan their collections and make them available on the Internet. The AAP and the Author's Guild sued Google for copyright infringement in 2005. Google announced a $125 million settlement in 2008, which would've created a registry of online books and allowed U.S. consumers and institutions to purchase access to the material. That, however, was overturned in March 2011, and the judge essentially ordered both sides to return to the table to negotiate another settlement agreement. Earlier this month, both sides said they were making good progress.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

My Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

My Areas of Expertise

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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