Google is large because we have deemed their services valuable and voluntarily consumed them. We are provided a service by companies because we have a (generally) free market, and as always, both parties profit, because both parties deem the exchange profitable.

This is the whole of their responsibility as a coorporation… To those many, many individuals who have a few shares of Google. It’s those individuals who have a conscience (not a company) and therefore act charitably from the profits they earn… privately and voluntarily.

Now, in this case, the company has deemd the positive PR they will receive as beneficial to their shareholders. So, they are in effect, upholding their only responsibility.

The Gates foundation on the other hand, is not answerable to shareholders. It is in essence, the private donation of an individual.

I’d expect to read a thread full of comments about how making money is evil on a political website based in Cuba or North Korea, not on an American website focused on the business of emerging web technology. Perhaps if anyone in the Web 2.0 sphere actually made any real money from their startups, they’d be more sympathetic

“Don’t be evil?” How about “Don’t do much good.”

@bs – yes shame on google for trying to make the world a better place

@randy – your post just added 1lb of hot CO2 air into the atmosphere

Not only are we in the midst of a declining ice age (which peaked just 12,500 years ago), but just the very stipulation that carbon dioxide is “pollution” to begin with, as declared by many political organizations like Google and the UN, is absolutely ridiculous. Carbon dioxide, like water, is an essential ingredient for life. An “excess” of CO2 (and what year does one declare to behold the baseline concentration beyond which any additional quantity is “excess”? LOL, see chart below) should no more be considered “pollution” that an “excess” of raindrops on a showery day!

Ashamedly, when brainwashed idiots like these PR weenies at Google cry wolf and declare a harmless, life-giving compound like CO2 to be “pollution”, they do no more than draw attention away from REAL ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTANTS such as sulfur dioxide, nasty free radicals, and industrial particulate — crap that ACTUALLY DOES make people sick. Google gobbles up their free advertising, but their gluttony comes at a terrible cost to all of us — all this free PR plunders PRECIOUS media focus away from the real threats to biodiversity — 1) habitat destruction & fragmentation, 2) poaching, and 3) pollution. This is a tragic irony that brings tears to my eyes.

And quite frankly, I think people are already tired of these phony, “Look what our company is doing to fight global warming!” press conferences anyway. Google’s masquerade accomplishes nothing — just another string of meaningless fluff and buzzwords conjured from the same old handbook. Furthermore, once again these PR airheads have neglected the most crucial detail of all — THE OFFICIAL PUBLIC DECLARATION OF GOOGLE’s DESIRED CO2 CONCENTRATION! Yes, that’s right — I personally demand that every political globalwarmingist preface every one of their anti-CO2 press conferences, editorials, blogs… drunken diatribes — WHATEVER — by declaring upfront what year on this graph (which I am able to pull instantly from my wallet) they desire to be THE everlasting, eternal concentration of CO2 on Earth:

http://tinyurl.com/39gnm4

Yes, that’s right, I demand they do it right up front — BEFORE they launch into their hysteria. Since every globalwarmingist is essentially demanding that the Earth’s climate hold steady in its present conditions (a ridiculous request which even if were actually somehow magically feasible would STILL be laughably arbitrary and egocentric), I henceforth demand we be provided with this information by any globalwarmingist who wishes to offer an opinion on the subject of long-term climate cycles and ice ages, especially those (like certain U.S. Representatives) who desire to PUNISH US (with taxes and regulations) for what are essentially the Earth’s natural long-term climate cycles –– deep ice ages followed by periods of undulating warmth that have existed peacefully on this beautiful planet for all of eternity.

Not the whole of africa is living in poverty. African’s may not have all the crap the west has such as cars , and other crap they can’t afford but some part of africa are actually living in homes , eating and have jobs.

Can’t really say that about some parts of US society now can we ? check out CNN and see how the living beyond your means has effected americans.

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@Duncan. Your comment about poverty in India comes out a little disparaging. Hope I am getting it wrong and u did not mean it that way.

COME ON GUYS HOW ABOUT SOME DECENT COVERAGE AND PRAISE FOR THE GATES FOUNDATION !!!!.

seriously Gates and his companions donate sack fulls of cash each year.

This amount google has given out is nothing. There are multi millionaire who donate more than google have. Heck and google are supposed to be billionnaires . Whats that saying about google ??

Skint flint anyone ?? . Google are the new scrooge mcduck.

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http://www.xencasino.com

Good move for Google to save the earth, but I wish they will give more money, if it was 250M, i will probably say it deserves the news, but 25M? they practically have a cash machine to print money, only 25M? a single generous person can easily top that, but would Duncan write a story if it is not Google? certainly not.

Are u a Google fanboy ?

Alot of poverty in India….huh….u might be kidding….what about Vietnam,China,Pakistan,Brazil, and specially whole of Africa ?

Damon
there’s no bash Microsoft policy and if you check the archives there’s plenty of positive Microsoft stories in the past. Google is a pure internet play so we cover their major announcements, that’s all. The Gates Foundation does some amazing work, but maybe they’re just off the radar a bit at the moment, if I see anything come up new we’ll take a look and consider running it

Or does that go against the TC bash microsoft policy?