In an interesting move, Google has come out against controversial documentary film maker Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Sicko” in a post titled “Does negative press make you Sicko?“.
Lauren Turner of the Google Health Advertising Team writes:
“While legislators, litigators, and patient groups are growing excited, others among us are growing anxious. And why wouldn’t they? Moore attacks health insurers, health providers, and pharmaceutical companies by connecting them to isolated and emotional stories of the system at its worst. Moore’s film portrays the industry as money and marketing driven, and fails to show healthcare’s interest in patient well-being and care.”
Apparently there is a cure to the Sicko ailment, and it involves spending money with Google:
“We can place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding content network. Whatever the problem, Google can act as a platform for educating the public and promoting your message.”
Google targeting Michael Moore is probably not a wise move. Whilst there may well be reasonable grounds to attack anything Michael Moore puts together, antagonizing Moore may well see Google become a larger target at a time the search giant is in the spotlight over its Double Click acquisition.
I’m glad the blogosphere has caught on to this.
This is a total shame on Google’s part. If Moore was to do a part 2 of the documentary, he can use this episode as the beginning.
As I just blogged(http://www.zaid360.com/?p=200), it is sad the best google can do with this huge problem facing our nation is offer PR services to fool folks into thinking there is no problem.
Duncan, you’re going to get fired from TechCrunch. The quality of your reporting is downright awful. The Myspace vs. Facebook article was bad but this is pure drivel.
Seriously, Duncan Riley needs to be fired. How has Google come out against Michael Moore? I went and read the blog post and it’s basic PR – some radical filmmaker with a huge gut who should lose some weight makes a highly biased movie and big pharma/healthcare companies should counter with good marketing. What’s so bad about that?
Google has hardly come out against Michael Moore the man or even Sicko the movie nor does the Health Advertising Team represent the official opinion of Google as a company.
Please resign Duncan. Your reporting is downright terrible. You’re biased and don’t back up anything with facts or data.
TechCrunch is already going down the shitter but this is the limit.
Here’s a fact: about 18,000 people die every year in America primarily because they cannot afford insurance.
May be you can explain how some adwords PR campaign is going to help fix this.
Leave Duncan alone, he’s doing fine.
Maybe you can learn English Zaid. Just maybe. 99% of the fools on here are like you:
1. Over-idealistic
2. Terrible at grammar/diction
3. No idea of how the real world works (see point #1)
4. Extremely opinionated with little logic to back it up
Where is your data from Zaid? Michael Moore himself? It looks like that UNC education isn’t paying off. Do you know that people in Cuba don’t actually get very good healthcare. Of course, if Michael Moore shows up, they are happy to put on a show that no normal Cuban could ever dream of in terms of health care quality.
Michael Moore is a showman. He has a few valuable points. The healthcare system needs fixing but you, Duncan, and the rest of the lost-in-the-clouds types need to learn to use logic, facts, and a dose of the real world.
The entire world does not revolve around self-important bloggers.
I’m confused, if Cuba is ranked 2 below the U.S for healthcare then how is it that the U.S healthcare system is soooo great in comparison. May have tons of medical equipment and education but what good is that if a large portion of the people cannot access it unless they put a price on their lives that many do not have? I could also say a lot more but I would rather make you think than just degrade you and hold my opinion of myself high enough that I believe I can create some self-fufilling prophacy in your mind.
You have to admit, a Moore film on Google, Microsoft and Apple (and Oracle, simply because of Larry) might be absolutely hilarious!!
David
agree
Sanity
Mars called, they want you back. Every one else called it the same way, check Techmeme for proof.
From Lauren Turner’s brilliant blog post:
“Moore’s film portrays the industry as money and marketing driven, and fails to show healthcare’s interest in patient well-being and care.”
Lauren then goes on to encourage healthcare interests to contact Google about how they can place “text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding content network.”
So let me get this straight. Moore’s film paints a picture of the healthcare industry as being money and marketing driven. Lauren at Google claims this really isn’t the case, and goes on to encourage the industry to contact Google about the company’s great marketing solutions. I wonder what pills Lauren has been taking because her argument is just brilliant.
I’m going to email Google about its solutions and see if they can help Drama Holdings S.A. create a campaign for our upcoming prescription drug. If I get a response, I’ll post it on my blog.
What???
Google is pointless and the one who should be fired is the guy who wrote the article about how to counter bad press!
Well, maybe some extremists like Ben Laden should ask for Google’s help to get a better reputation!
And, for the facts, U.S. is ranked 37 in healthcare around the world. And that’s a fact. The most powerful country! Even Canada (and I am canadian) have a better healthcare system (almost free and universal).
Michael Moore is a moron. Plain and simple. He has a skill of twisting the facts, and that’s about it. Perhaps he should get himself to the Gym and shed a few pounds. Might save the rest of us some money on our healthcare.
So which healthcare provider do you work for Sanity?
One of Moore’s Cuba patients snuck out of her hospital room during her stay and walked back into the hospital without the cameras and got the same attention she did with the cameras.
The mere fact that one of those people has to pay $120 for a single prescription inhaler that only costs Cuban’s $0.05 for the same exact product should be cause enough for riots in the street.
The problem is people like you and marketers and PR people and lawyers have sold this country and it’s people out for a paycheck and will do anything to defend “their” goodie basket while their neighbor rots.
Our healthcare industry doesn’t just need “fixing”, it needs to be torn down and rebuilt because it’s a corrupt pile of nonsense that only favors people with money.
The United States has become the laughing stock of the world. We’re like a giant crying, spitting, farting juvenile pimple on the ass of the planet and it’s people like you who continue to promote it.
The world IS the blogosphere and it should revolve around them! They represent the people. Not the corporate owned media of the United States which represents 3 company’s views which are bought and paid for and shoves complete nonsense down the throats of citizens all day. And this Google post further emphasizes that point; “the huddled masses got you down? Our marketing experts will help silence the dissent against your company by manipulating the information they seek to show you in a more positive light”.
The person that wrote that should be hung.
Duncan – your inability to address any of my points shows how sad you are. When are you resigning? Do you know how to use logic? What about simple arguments? You are a writer and you can’t use logic. Your grammar is awful and you can’t even spell properly – “every one” vs. “everyone” – where did you go to college? You’re a complete and utter retard.
Joe B – do Canadians know how to spell? It’s Bin Laden and you might want to learn grammar as well.
You fools can’t even argue or speak proper English. God knows what our healthcare system would be like if we let idiots like you run it. It’s bad enough already.
#4
“Analysis: ‘Sicko’ mostly accurate, needs context”
http://www.cnn....heck/index.html
It says a lot about *your* education when you counter someone’s argument by attacking their grammar. Ha.
-Zaid
Dear “Sanity,” I enjoyed your post immensely, especially this line: “…some radical filmmaker with a huge gut who should lose some weight makes a highly biased movie…”
A “radical filmmaker,” huh? You say that like it’s a bad thing. Radical filmmakers make some the best, and most important films.
Then there’s your “…with a huge gut who should lose some weight” comment; personal attacks are the last–or, more likely, only resort of a weak argument, which, of course, you’ve made crystal clear.
But my favorite comment of yours is when you call “Sicko” a “…highly biased movie,” particularly when combined with your other comment: “You’re biased and don’t back up anything with facts or data.” How about you do a quick Yahoo search and do a little fact-checking yourself? Search this: “Sicko” “fact check”
Choose a few links, take 30 minutes to do a little reading, and ask yourself why YOU’RE so biased.
Irrespective of whether Moore is right, you’re all missing the point. Duncan’s article is pointing out a really heavy-handed attempt by a Google person to capitalize on Moore’s work by offering to “fix” the health industry’s image problem for a few bucks.
The article is not about whether Mr. Moore is right or wrong. Its about whether Google (as represented by Lauren who supposedly posts in the name of Google and thus willy nilly represents their corporate stance) is doing a good thing or not. I’m with Duncan, this seems like a tasteless and idiotic thing to do.
Techcrunch “…is a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies.”
Maybe that should be changed to “… a weblog dedicated to obsessively reporting new products and features of MAJOR tech companies such as Apple, Google, Myspace, and Facebook.”
By the way, “Sanity,” if you wish to argue the finer points of proper grammar, perhaps you should do so only after looking into the correct usage of punctuation. You’ve erroneously omitted several commas and quotation marks, and you’ve also placed hyphens where there should be none, while omitting others where they should be placed. More importantly, though, you’ve reinforced my point about people who use personal attacks rather than debating facts…
I’m in the majority, I believe, in thinking Google made a mistake. This could paint them in a very negative light and if it gets enough attention it could have a major long term impact in perhaps unforseen ways.
And as former resident of the U.S. who now lives in another country, I can tell you first hand that the quality of healthcare can be dramatically better at a fraction of the cost.
@ 12 – Thanks for providing your facts Zaid.
@ 13 – I’m glad you enjoyed my comments. I’m also glad you referred me to “Sicko” fact check given that 8 of the top 10 results are just a replication of the CNN Story.
Here are a few other nice facts:
1. “— The United States ranked highest on patient satisfaction, followed by Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Canada, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden.”
Source: http://www.npr....ps=bb2#11291249
2. Problems with the UK System: “Nevertheless, Ellis agrees that resources are finite. The NHS is already rationing health care, and often unfairly. She concedes that free treatment for every medical condition is an impossible ideal.”
Source:
http://marketpl...M200706074.html
3. Obesity is one of the biggest driving factors in higher healthcare costs and lower life expectancy, disease rates, morbidity, and lower quality of life. The United States has the highest obesity rate in the developed world.
It was a bit of a personal attack on Moore. Honestly though, Americans need to be healthier. Even if we had the same healthcare system as everyone else, our healthcare system would still be far more expensive. We are a fat country. It wouldn’t hurt Michael Moore to be a bit more of a role model. This is just like Al Gore promoting an Inconvenient Truth while having private jets, a huge heated pool, etc. Hypocrisy is the true sign of weakness.
Source:
http://www.oecd...23/34970246.pdf
Read it bloggers. Learn about your world. There is life outside of the 415 and 650 area code.
Google is trying to do two things at once, two things that are not always compatible. First, they are a public company and their job is to make money for the benefit of their shareholders. The health care market is HUGE and Google sees an opportunity to get some more business from that sector.
But, Google is also the company of Don’t Be Evil. Here’s an article from Wired in 2003 – Google vs. Evil — http://www.wire.../google_pr.html
And you would have to be living in a cave to not know that the US healthcare system is totally F*cked Up. With a capital F. And Moore uses emotionally manipulative tactics to get the point across, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. (That’s called good filmmaking.)
Google could have reached out to the health care folks without going after Moore. It would be more accurate to just say… With the film Sicko in theaters and bringing publicity to problems in health care… you need to get your story out… use Google. Nothing wrong with that.
I was hard on Duncan for his Joost cheerleading, but I think it’s right to point this out.
Why are right wingers so angry and feel the need to be right, even when it is contradicted by the facts. Two such facts: 1)The US spends more on healthcare per person than any nation on earth, yet their system is never in the top twenty in terms of quality. Look at any of the metrics to see my point. 2)People die because of lack of insurance. Why defend something that is inferior? Just so you feel superior? Or are you merely trolling, you know the old internet saying ‘what happens when average joe gets and audience plus anonymity…’.
Google’s forte is HOSTING ads, not acting as a PR firm. Lauren is one of the many youngsters at Google who need monitoring and with limited life experiences, shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions alone. This is a major faux-pas for Google. I think the don’t be evil slogan is long dead at Google. Time to move on to search engine 2.0 or 3.0 or whatever?
Speaking of life experience, I don’t know if these statistics still hold true (from 2004) but from the photo’s I often see of Google people, it doesn’t look like it has changed much.
“The average age of male employees at Google is 29.7 years and the average age of female employees is 28.4, according to the complaint, filed in Superior Court for the State of California for the County of Santa Clara. Only 30, or less than 2 percent, of Google’s 1,900 employees are over 40, the complaint states.”
Sanity: Duncan’s doing a fine job. You may disagree with the topic he chose, but I for one find it interesting that we discover here how Google is deepening its sales in vertical market segments through specific teams. (I wouldn’t be surprised if the Entertainment team was doing exactly the opposite !) I think that is good reporting.
In fact, what I’d really like is for Michael to assign a reporter to do longer stories (rather than have all of them do a bunch of short ones.) Deepening this topic would be especially interesting, for instance, to all the budding entrepreneurs here trying to monetize their startups through Mike’s favourite means: ads. Finding out more about how the best drive down the sales process would be very interesting. I also read this other blog (www.startup-review.com) for stunningly detailed articles (I’m not affiliated with that blog); it’d be great to see a guy like Duncan be free to do the same kind of reporting here.
I think “sanity” (aka grammar bitch) is “Lauren Turner”
It’s funny reading comments from a bunch of tech nerds who know absolutely nothing about healthcare rabble on like know it alls.
@23: It’s funny reading high sounding comments from a purported know-it-all who can’t provide a iota of information, let alone any arguments, on any of the sides of this issue.
After today, I can’t stand to visit techcrunch anymore. After 200 Apple articles, and then this, its horrible. This site used to be about talking about startups and innovative ideas. Now its become just another piece of the biased liberal media.
Socialism doesn’t provide the best quality stuff, and does not encourage research and innovation, as proven time and again. I watched the movie Sicko. Its clear Moore chose the worst of the US scenarios and the best of the Canadian scenarios. And a big part of his movie was that healthcare over there is free. HMOs are absolutely horrible. Everyone agrees on that. But socialism and national healthcare paid by tax dollars (not free) is not the answer.
Lets use Michael Moore’s examples in his own movie of other socialistic services in the US.
1) US Postal Service
They provide the service relatively cheap, mainly because they can’t raise prices and they have to stay competitive with the privatized versions. They’re given huge advantages, and are government subsidized, yet the lines the post office are HUGE. When you do send mail and get a tracking number, it often takes DAYS for it to appear online, and packages are often LATE. There is no insurance included in the cost.
FedEx and UPS both offer $100 insurance on all shipments and cost about the same. When I ship a package with them, I’m given up to the minute reports on where it is with a tracking number viewable online immediately. They are much better then the USPS, and the only reason we’re not always using them is because they can’t put stuff in our mailboxes legally, so they can’t match the price point.
2) Security
National security has proven to be a joke, especially for what we’re paying for it. No companies rely on the police, and private security forces are now used wherever possible as the police aren’t able to provide the level of service that people want. I work next to an army research facility, and they use a private security force they contracted over police and other federal systems.
3) Fire service
I live in Orlando, FL. This year, estimates showed that between 40-65% of the fire hydrogens in the city were NOT functional, and several buildings have burned down as a result. The city has little to no knowledge of where the fire hydrogens were placed or if all areas are even accessible to one, let alone a working one. Because of the way the system is setup, there really is no privatized version to compare it to.
Socialistic and government services really don’t work very well and are not very efficient. We need smaller government, and national health care is not the solution. Laws to force more competition and stop them from running scams (HMOs) are what we need. Make the insurance companies refund all money plus interest and a penalty when they determine someone isn’t eligible for coverage after they’ve been paying. That will really reduce the problem VERY quickly. Other similar laws could be created to stop the madness without having government-quality healthcare.
Great article Duncan. The Google person does need to get fired.
Perhaps TechCrunch can ask Google for an official position on where they stand as they are obviously no longer objective?
I can’t seem to figure out what’s Google interest in dealing with these issues.
#25: We’re socialists ? Since when ? I was away yesterday, did anything really bad suddenly happen ?
Scott at 16: I was about to post the same thing myself. High-larious.
Techcrunch should batten down the hatches, as it’s about to get a face-load of astroturf.
And right on cue, the “more in sadness than anger” astroturfy stylings of “leaving techcrunch” at 25. Textbook stuff, guys.
Oh my god. Duncan really got addicted to TC. He love to write 8am to 4am. Damn, duncan you need to take a day off.
I bet you. you refuse….
I went back and read Lauren’s post a couple of times. Lauren actually sticks to the facts and makes a reasonable pitch to the health care indsutry/providers for their (google’s) services. While if you read the post with a bias, it is easy to read it as coming out against Michael Moore/the film; however if you remove that bias (which is why I read the post a couple of times) you will see only facts.
1. The film portrays the industry negatively. Yep.
2. The film “fails to show the health care industries interest in patient well being and care.” (yeah, that’s a fact. There are healthcare companies that really do care about their patients well being. While there are plenty that are only out to make a buck at any expense, there are plenty that genuinely do care about making a difference.
3. A drug may be a blockbuster one day and a failure the next. Yep.
4. News may focus on annual sales and exectutive salaries while failing to share R&D costs. Yep…all those lab nerds (you know those PHD holding scientists) are expensive and like expensive equipment.
5. Often common, “the media may use an isolated, heartbreaking, or sensationalist story to paint a picture of healthcare as a whole.” This is a fact as well.
All Lauren is saying is that there is another, untold, side to the story, which isn’t “coming out against the movie.”
Yeah, the healthcare system in America is broken, nobody (that I know of) would disagree with that. Amongst all the bad, there are also good things that happen in our healthcare system.
Fire hydrogens?
What’s a “fire hydrogen”? …sounds explosive to me.
So, what’s wrong with having a personal opinion and expressing that in your blog, even if you are an employee of Google? Michael Moore has a perspective; he expresses his opinion in [mostly] entertaining ways.
Sensationalism works. Get ‘em talkin’… then move on.
lol @ the ‘We Love Feedback!’ text and yet a complete lack of comment boxes.
a true capitalist health care system would provide a much bigger pool of advertisers for google. instead of being limited to the 3 drugs approved by the FDA, thered be hundreds. how would they all get their message out. they all couldnt buy shelf space at the 7/11 or CVS – theyd have to buy google ads!
I am not an American, so my interest in Michael Moore, Sicko or US healthcare. But I am someone who makes a living out of Google Adsense, and even for me, the writeup by Google appears as a bit cut-throat – some guy points out what might or might not be true, and you jump in and say, guys now solve your problems by advertising with us!
Lauren comes across as an overly enthusiastic employer who naively believes that Google is about to change the world by partnering with established players in the health care industry. And by golly, she’s been talking to people in the health care business are they’re all just wonderful!
I doubt that she understands what drives decision making in the boardrooms of large corporations and, sadly for her, how her remarks would be interpreted as the voice of Google. It would have been safer to promote Detroit as the center of automotive quality than to stand up for corporations in health care.
When you have sales people posting stuff like this you see the slow shift on priorities at Google. It’s all about making money at any cost. I’m afraid the “do no evil” mantra is slowly being erased.
For the most part, I agree with Jacob Levy (see post #14), who identifies this as an apparent attempt by Google to capitalize on a polarizing film.
Sadly, this thread has largely deteriorated into vitriol and ad hominem attacks.
The truth is, people make TONS of money on polarizing issues. TV viewership increases when someone like Michael Moore is on the air; commentators like Bill O’Reilly produce best-selling books.
And not surprisingly, Google wants to get in on this financial action: make money of the liberals who advertise their films; make money off of well-heeled pharma companies who want to disseminate their response.
I think it’s reasonable for any media company, including Google, to sell advertising space to people who want to present their views.
However, I think Lauren Turner’s attempt to cash in was a bit too obvious and clumsy, and frankly, I didn’t think the post was especially newsworthy.
Seems the people who are taking swipes at this article writer and insulting other commenters… are coming up with the same line, effectively “Moore is fat” as if it’s an important factor for them.
Not sure what that means… just an observable pattern.
“Whilst there may well be reasonable grounds to attack anything Michael Moore puts together”
more like a raging republican is at loose!
Moore for President!
I am a Googler, and this stream of comments really drives home some very important thoughts: the huge responsibility to very carefully select the placement and timing of our opinions; and how incredible it is to be employed at at a company that carries such weight.
Zorba – Lauren would never get fired for what she did. At Google we are expected to speak up. You may not like what we say, but the ability to say it is key.
Johnson – The Don’t Be Evil stance is not dead. Get to know some Googlers and do some research into google.org, INSTEDD, Google Earth Outreach, etc. By the way, something else we at Google believe in: Making money is not always evil.
googler_in_VA .
You said : t Google we are expected to speak up.
Maybe you didn’t hear of Mark Jen , who was fired from Google for speaking up in his blog
http://news.com..._3-5572936.html
googler_in_VA
“By the way, something else we at Google believe in: Making money is not always evil.”
Yeah, but “HOW” you make it – is!
SANITY, shut up, We get real healthcare in Cuba FOR A POOR COUNTRY, we do very well, if we had more money like in america we would be better, but in Cuba healthcare and education is free. Nobody dies because is unisured, we have multiple problems, political and social, but we do have good healthcare and we all have high education. And the ones who come to this Country (see Miami) we go to School, we make money, we build business and we work hard, and Miami is what it is now, because of the cubans. We might not even speak English in Miami, that strong we are. But back in cuba, we were poor and we were frustrated because of the political situation, BUT WE HAD HEALTHCARE for everyone free. And for our standards, it is a good healthcare. If you compare it with this Country were people work two and three jobs and still have no universal healthcare it’s sad, how can you call yourself a GREAT COUNTRY if millions of your own people can’t affor a visit to a doctor or medicines. At least Michael Moore is saying something about it.
Duncan,
Usually I agree with you. In this case I don’t. I am a very liberal person, I always vote democratic (although in an ideal would I would vote for a canidate that actually means something — rather than simply the lesser of two evils) however Michael Moore is an exploiter.
He really does display the healthcare industry at its very worst, ignoring all the good aspects about it. Idealizing the healthcare industries in other countries, which have their own advantages and disadvantages. He fails to recognize that the industry has a lot of very good people. People who deeply care, on a very personal level for the patients they are charged with caring for. He makes all the good folks in healthcare look like a pack of hungry wolves that go not after meat, but after wallets. He ignores the fact that while insurance companies are businesses, that exist to make money, they also save a huge number of lives every single day.
This is typical of Moore’s other films. While I am NOT a fan of George Bush, I recognize the few good things he has done. Michael Moore is a manipulative weasle and nothing more. He rallies peoples emotions and fears and creates a mob-mentality, one that is not productive, not healthy and simply not good for anyone. His messages are one-sided and he completly neglects any other arguements.
Like I said, I am not a fan. I am very impressed that Google publically took a stance like this.
I’ve said my part ;-]
dan
BTW… moore for president..??? I hope you’re joking.
This is my first time posting a comment. I thought this article was great. I think the whole point was to show the irony that Google could be Moore’s next target, rather than focusing on any of the stuff that a lot of comments here said.