Letter to Google

I have written a letter to Google. The letter text is below:

November 18, 2005

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View CA 94043

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to start this letter by saying that I really admire your company. I have always thought that many companies require far too many employees to create software that is either not extremely complex, or software that takes entirely too long to complete. Google proves that software can be written quickly and efficiently, and at a high quality. Because of my faith in the company, I am also a shareholder.

But this was not the point of my letter. Unfortunately I do not often send letters for the sole purpose of praise, although I suppose maybe I should. Rather, I am writing with concerns over how Google makes money.

By making money solely through advertising, you are giving your users no choice other than to have messages which are often nothing more than misleading half-truths shoved into their faces. I personally take offense to advertising. Advertising by its very nature is likely to be extremely misleading. Advertisers, entirely motivated by capitalism in most cases, will say whatever needs to be said to generate the most profit. This and many other things are what offend me about advertising.

Having said this, I admit that Google is hardly the most evil corporation in the world. Indeed, I believe that Google has done a lot of good for the world. The reason that I have picked Google, however, to write this letter to, is because of the size of Google and its future potential for growth. Because of Google’s size, I wanted to make it clear that not necessarily everyone is “OK” with advertising. Not everyone accepts a service as “free” when we are being forced to be shown advertising.

I am not suggesting that Google change its entire business model. To do so would surely be the ruin of the company. What I am suggesting is that the users be given a choice. I am sure you have plenty of data regarding how much money is made on each user per visit, day, click, etc. I suggest that you offer a pay model that would match this revenue. If a user such as me were to sign up for this pay model, I would simply not be shown the ads, yet you would be receiving the same amount of money from me that you would expect from a normal “free” user. You can count on the fact that I would be the first person to sign up for such a service.

I have attached a recent article that I have written on my blog. You can find the online copy of this article at http://www.fourmajor.com/?p=52. I hope you will think about what I have said in this letter. I do not expect one letter to cause a change in how you do business, but if everyone that felt as I do would write a letter to Google, perhaps you would consider changing how you do business. I would greatly appreciate a reply containing your thoughts in response to my letter.

Sincerely,
Stuart Matthews
2240 Larkin Street
Apartment 103
San Francisco, CA 94109
Google Account name: muhgcee@gmail.com

** text of attached article removed from online version of letter. Please click this link to view the online version of the article **