The Politics of Google - Google Opposes California Proposition 8
In a rather bold move, Google has taken an official corporate position on California’s Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriages. Google’s stance was published on their official blog. Google joins Levi Strauss & Co. in public opposition to the ban.
Many groups that support the proposition are calling for a boycott of Google. For example, Texas A&M’s Catholic Center is threatening to change their blog to a different blog hosting service. The blog is currently on blogger, a Google-owned website.
While it is unlikely that the boycotts will harm Google, Google’s role in the information space is once again questioned. As a search engine, many users expect Google to objectively search and rank information on the web. Endorsing political positions may obscure this role because Google is publicly making judgments about the information that it is sorting.
However, it is impossible for individuals or companies to remain objective all of the time, and the algorithm is just a formula that beliefs do not affect, at least that’s what Google claims.
This is just one of many politically related moves on Google’s part. Google has also launched a campaign to encourage voting that uses Google maps to help citizens find their voting information.
It will be interesting to see what steps Google takes next and if their competitors will use this issue to gain market share in the search space. Some users may already be lured away by Microsoft’s SearchPerks program.
