James Whittaker raised eyebrows when he jumped ship from Google last month after working as a development director for its Google Plus social network. In this intriguing blog post, he lays out the reasons for his decision, which primarily concern the changing nature and culture of the company. It used to be an innovation factory, he said, empowering and feeding employees’ entrepreneurial and creative spirits. Now, though, it’s just all about ads.
The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus. Technically I suppose Google has always been an advertising company, but for the better part of the last three years, it didn’t feel like one. Google was an ad company only in the sense that a good TV show is an ad company: having great content attracts advertisers.
Read the full post on Whittaker’s Microsoft Blog.
More in Media
OpenX hunts new CEO after parting ways with Matt Sattel as chief executive
The ad tech company is switching leaders, ending the current CEO’s five-month term in office.
Streaming is the next frontier for Walmart’s, Kroger’s ads businesses
Walmart and other retailers have also recently invested in the ability to integrate their shopping data into video platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
‘A Super Bowl every two days’: Inside Unilever’s 50,000-creator World Cup play
50,000 creators activated globally, massive in-person pop-ups in host cities, and more are all part of Unilever’s World Cup creator push.