Google ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Motto: What Went Wrong?

SearchScene
Dec 15, 2020
Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash

Famously, Google’s unofficial motto had been ‘don’t be evil’ for a number of years. Recently, however, they removed almost all mentions of it from their code of conduct and other company communications, which caused quite a stir back in 2018! We take a look back at Google’s history over the past couple of decades and why the motto has changed.

The story of the ‘Don’t Be Evil’ motto

‘Don’t be evil’ had been Google’s unofficial motto since 2000, when it first appeared in the corporate code of conduct. During that time, the phrase was deeply incorporated into Google’s company culture to the extent that it was used as a Wi-Fi password on Google shuttles.

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