Is Google the most unethical company out there?

[FizzyBubbler Lives Forever!]

In 2006, Google agreed to censor itself to get a piece of the Chinese market. Sold it's soul to the devil in other terms. Through the years, Google got mad because the Chinese intermittently would block Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (all owned by Google), and one day last year they shut them all off and never let them back online. Google wasn't making any money. A few weeks ago Google announced it would stop censoring itself and if China didn't like it, they'd pull out. Their deadline was last Tuesday. They're still in China, and they're still censored. It was clearly a power play with Beijing to get their biggest money-makers like Facebook and YouTube back online making money / free advertising.

Many companies are unethical, but isn't Google particularly unethical for using this issue to further it's profits?
Liuzhou Laowai: You say Google is not censored in China and I'm in fairyland? Hahaha good one.

[Jenk]

Google is all about the money, ethics take a back seat. They do have a slide and ball pool in some offices though. I think this makes up for it.

[John Galt]

Do you know that if you compose an email in GMail, it sends your keystrokes over the internet to Google, unencrypted?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg7pVFVqMMg

[me]

China is crazy. Google should mind their own business elsewhere. Nice choice of words with "pull out".

[Meg]

Companies are in business to make money not to further human rights. Compared to the many companies who have promoted slave labor and corruption in other countries Google's lack of action is very mild. Despite what the supreme court says corporations are not persons and they do not have a moral code so expecting ethical behavior is unrealistic.

[Mike]

I could name a hundred companies that are more unethical than google. A few examples include include Haliburton, Blackwater, and all the wall street banks.

Others that were considered very reputable until they were caught was Enron and Worldcom.

[Liuzhou Laowai]

Well, don't let facts get in the way of your rant.

Facebook is NOT owned by Google.

Twitter is NOT owned by Google

You Tube is.

Google is NOT censored in China. google.com is freely available and uncensored. google.cn IS censored but each case of censorship is flagged as such.

If you can't get your basic facts correct, your whole argument fails. Grow up!

[water_skipper]

I don't see the problem.

[Thomas]

Ethics are a principal very infrequently recognised by giant companies. It's money, money, money at every twist and turn. Profits and power are the bywords of these commercial pirates. However, it is likely that Google could just catch a cold on this one. The Chinese have always played the game behind the shadows and I wouldn't mind a few quid on, sometime in the future and without warning, the plug will be pulled resulting in the Google baby going down the plug hole!

[Andrew G]

No, I reckon the US government is the most unethical company out there.