After Google’s decision to agree to China censorship, many people could just loose their faith in the search engine, whose motto is still “Don’t be Evil”.

An interesting article on Coolz0r titled “Dear Google” explains why the author, and also other users, just lost the trust they had towards Google.

Here are some interesting parts of this long but interesting article:

I’m disappointed in what you did. […] I never thought you would give in to the claims of governments to hide information. What is there left now to be trusted if even search is being manipulated? How can I be ever sure that what you display to me as a result for the queries I’ve entered is real, complete and fully objective? Whenever I have to do research on delicate matters, how can I ever be sure I get to read the real pros and cons?

The author also mentions the fact that Google suddenly changed their statement in their guidelines about censorship in search results.

The ‘old’ Google said this: “Google does not censor results for any search term. The order and content of our results are completely automated; we do not manipulate our search results by hand. We believe strongly in allowing the democracy of the web to determine the inclusion and ranking of sites in our search results. To learn more about Google’s search technology, please visit …”

While the ‘new’ Google now says this: “It is Google’s policy not to censor search results. However, in response to local laws, regulations, or policies, we may do so. When we remove search results for these reasons, we display a notice on our search results pages. Please note: For some older removals (before March 2005), we may not show a notice at this time.”

Then, he just asks Google if they still believe in democracy:

The fact you removed your statement about your belief in the democracy of the web hurts me a lot. You could’ve just added ‘except in China’ or something, but no. You took down the entire statement. We know now you do censor results, but does it also means the content of your results will no longer be completely automated? Does it mean you will manipulate search results by hand? Does it mean you no longer believe strongly in the democracy of the web? Will ranking be affected by your decision? […]

Maybe you’ve entered a market that is going to boom. Truly, I agree that is an interesting place to be in. But at what cost? Freedom of speech is the most important thing in life. And that is something you now have forsaken. Do you actually believe that the Chinese government will change in the near future and that maybe one day you will be able to provide the Chinese people with the ‘real’ results? That would be great, but I think ‘real’ results are no longer an option.

It’s true that a Google.cn is better than no Google at all in China. Fact is, there was a Google. I just think it should’ve been different than what it is today. I don’t think it’ll be ‘for greater good’. I don’t think it’ll actually help the Chinese in their quest for information about world facts, because if they aren’t conform the Chinese government’s point of view they’ll be censored.

Touching article, really.

According to an article from ZDNet, Google is about to launch a fee-based support for those who are using their Web Analytics solutions: Google Analytics.

They are partnering with a Seattle based company called: Zaaz, a web analytics agency, to provide support to the “lucky” (?) ones who are using Analytics.

From Zaaz Web Site:

Google Analytics is a powerful standalone tool, but today marketers are seeking more – they need help in understanding how to decipher and more effectively use web analytics to identify opportunities for improvement and act on the findings. We are pleased to partner with Google to provide our comprehensive range of services to their enterprise Google Analytics clients.

Their services include:

• Accuracy audits and data collection best practices
• Goals definition, key metrics and scorecard creation
• ROI monetization and forecasting models
• Attitudinal, behavioral and competitive analysis
• Site optimization, A/B and multivariate testing
• Business user training and consulting

It looks good to me, but I think that kind of partnership can represent a threat for other Web Development companies who would not have been referred by Google. Companies for who Web Analytics is new, would not hesitate a second in choosing a company to help them analyze their figures, they will trust Google.

For those who are still willing to try Google Analytics, they promised to send out more invitations, the last ones were sent on January 19th:

Today, we sent out another batch of invitations to many of you who expressed interest in a Google Analytics account. If you have not received an invitation, please continue to be patient. Although we are adding system capacity every day, the demand for Google Analytics accounts still outpaces our ability to add resources. We are working hard and will continue to send out invitations as frequently as we can.

What do you think about Google Analytics by the way? Our company received an invitation but I didn’t give it a try yet.