Consumer watchdogs Progressive Change Campaign Committee, one of the groups behind last month’s Net Neutrality protests in Mountain View (which produced the amazing and as of yet unverified statistic that 600 Google employees signed an anti-Google/Verizon petition) have now one-upped themselves by buying ads through Google’s own content network and on competitor Facebook in conjunction with OneWebDay.
The ads, which are not subtle or artful, redirect to an open letter to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Dear Sergey Brin & Larry Page:
As Google’s founders, you coined the company motto: “Don’t be evil.” As a Google user, I am telling you, live up to your motto and don’t be evil.
The deal between Google and Verizon is evil. It would mean corporate control over the Internet, and it would prevent future startup Googles from ever existing.
The deal between Google and Verizon to kill net neutrality would make the Internet less accessible and useful.
The free and open Internet – which hundreds of millions of people rely on every day – is a cornerstone of Google’s ethics.
Sergey and Larry, we’re looking at you. Live up to your founding motto and Google’s mission. Walk away from this deal and save the Internet.
Signed,
[Room for electronic signature]
Revealing that their budget was “tens of thousands” of dollars, PCCC would not reveal the money spent on Google ads vs. Facebook ads, saying only that there are probably more on Facebook and the ads are still going up currently.
Says spokesperson Adam Green, “[We're] targeting them in their comfort zone — Silicon Valley. Also rewarding Facebook, which has come out for Net Neutrality recently, by buying ads there.”
And, in case you were wondering, this is what pops up when you click “I’m feeling lucky.”
Larry Page was Google’s founding CEO and grew the company to more than 200 employees and profitability before moving into his role as president of products in April 2001. He continues to share responsibility for Google’s day-to-day operations with Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin. The son of Michigan State University computer science professor Dr. Carl Victor Page, Larry’s love of computers began at age six. While following in his father’s footsteps in academics, he became an honors graduate from the...
Sergey Brin. a native of Moscow, received a bachelor of science degree with honors in mathematics and computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program in computer science at Stanford University, where he received his master’s degree. Sergey is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship as well as an honorary MBA from Instituto de Empresa. At Stanford, he met Larry Page and worked on the...
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