Google CEO Tried To Censor Google Search Results, Hide Political Donation, Book Claims

According to Steve Levy's new book on Google, In the Plex, Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted to have the search engine censor information that appeared about him in its search results.

The New York Times, citing Levy's book, writes, "Mr. Schmidt asked that Google remove from the search engine information about a political donation he had made. Sheryl Sandberg, a Google executive who is now Facebook's chief operating officer, told him that was unacceptable."

The Times' article about Levy's findings also details Google's fumbles in China, where Google eventually decided to shut down its search operations.

"When the Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, visited China in 2004, they needed coaching on how to behave, Mr. Levy writes. On a visit to India, they had been compared to college backpackers, riding in rickshaws. Al Gore, the former vice president, had to warn them that they were politically naïve and that the Chinese would think they were arrogant if they acted like that in China," the Times notes.

Comments

[PubicOption]

08:28 AM on 04/05/2011

There has also been reports that Lance Armstrong has paid somebody to cleanse google searches that refer to his past drug/steroid connections. For example, there was a famous incident b/w Armstrong and an Italian rider who was a "whistle-blower" in regards to steroid use in cycling. That video now cannot be found via Google.....

[Oscar Groom]

04:08 PM on 04/04/2011

See "Minority Report".

[Dave Bee]

03:15 PM on 04/04/2011

OH so schmidt is for privacy when its his own? What an s.o.b.

[bleubunny]

01:40 PM on 04/04/2011

Hate to tell you but Google has been censoring for years.

[AdHack]

11:01 AM on 04/04/2011

But we're not told to whom or what the political donation was made?

[uberlefty]

10:16 PM on 04/04/2011

Google it

[durant]

09:59 AM on 04/04/2011

Does news this old deserve a headline?

IMHO, the more interesting part of the story is the fact that Schmidt was told "Sorry--no can do."

[absolument]

02:59 AM on 04/03/2011

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coalition_for_Safe_and_Affordable_Childrenswear

Same Steve Levy?

I don't know. Do you?

[Slight Return]

04:11 AM on 04/04/2011

?

[MyTake]

06:42 PM on 04/02/2011

I am now stumped.

I thought this brilliant man wrote the infamous Google search algorithm himself and would not need to seek anyone else's permission to suppress or slice and dice search results!

So this is why when I search Dr. Evil Schmidt and Bilderberg, I get a BIG BLACK BLANK RECTANGLE at the top of the screen (like when you ask the government for information, they black out parts of the page).

Maybe some day the law will catch up with this guy over what he has done with every keystroke tapped into a Google Search box which has been forwarded direct to NSA data farms.

[pkafin]

08:41 PM on 04/02/2011

Shmidt has nothing to do with writing search algorithms. I think you need to do a bit more research before your smarm is taken seriously.

Shmidt is a hired hand who was brought on to be the adult on the business side of things. He is best ridiculed for the mind boggling naive statement "If you have something you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it".

Actually, in light of the information presented in this article, that quote is blindingly cynical to the point of hilarity.

[ManwithaParachute]

05:35 PM on 04/03/2011

Thank you for saving me the time.

[Stoopid American]

01:59 PM on 04/04/2011

"Actually, in light of the informatio­n presented in this article, that quote is blindingly cynical to the point of hilarity."

Spot on!

[ManwithaParachute]

05:39 PM on 04/03/2011

This c0mment is ppending appproval and won't bee displaied until it is appproved.

EYE_D10Tee error on your part.

M0deration software

[Desolati0n]

01:33 PM on 04/02/2011

I'd like to have a few things about me stricken from google, anyone have a google editor's email?

[absolument]

02:57 AM on 04/03/2011

Google "SEO." ;-)

[fenriswolf26]

10:45 AM on 04/02/2011

Wow. I'm completely unsurprised.

[maelio]

09:08 AM on 04/02/2011

http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Eric_Schmidt.php

[bepa]

02:39 AM on 04/04/2011

That is a curious mix of political donations...why did he give money to Orin Hatch ?

[PerryMason]

05:51 AM on 04/02/2011

So "Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted to have the search engine censor information that appeared about him in its search results."

Funny how things people say come back to bite them on the butt. Like Eric Schmidt's 2009 response to concerns about search engine users' privacy: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/google-ceo-eric-schmidt-dismisses-privacy

[Mister Grumpy]

01:59 AM on 04/02/2011

Schmidt must be a member of the GOP......... afterall they think the truth is dangerous......... and deceit is a virtue.................

[General Public]

12:46 AM on 04/02/2011

Wow, this is like when Jimbo Wales tried to keep anyone from saying anything bad about him on Wikipedia, and the Wikipedia administrators rebelled and had to get him to relinquish his super-admin powers over the site because he was abusing them.

[Slight Return]

12:17 AM on 04/02/2011

Did he play the blind boy in Deliverance ?

[Slight Return]

12:19 AM on 04/02/2011

~ http://ll-media.tmz.com/2008/12/09/1209_memba_launch_2-1.jpg

[ghostgirl21]

10:14 AM on 04/03/2011

Great! Now I'm going to here that banjo music in my head all day.
Fanned. :)

[ghostgirl21]

12:02 PM on 04/03/2011

Sorry, "hear." :)