Google wants a clear record – and is selling Performics
Putting pressure on Google can be successful: The EU had approved Google’s DoubleClick-Deal on 11. March. On the following day, it became clear that DoubleClick possesses a so-called search engine optimizer, on account of a company acquisition with Performics in 2004. The prestigious search engine expert Danny Sullivan called upon Google in an open letter that same day and requested Google to get rid of this company immediately. It was unheard of that a search engine owns a company, which is specialized on selling tips how to be positioned at the top of search results.
This morning, Chrisoph Pichler from CPC Consulting made me aware of a recent entry on the official Google Blog: Tom Phillips, one of the Google Directors, who is responsible for the integration of DoubleClick into the Google system, writes that Performics will be sold to a “third party”. It will be interesting to find out, who this “third party” will be. I will keep on checking this.
The Performics story also makes something else obvious: public resistance can make a difference. One should therefore put more pressure on Google in connection with the data- and privacy protection and data collection, as well as a continuous discussion of human rights. Only then will things change!
