"Think Google will not do it? The last time I read their terms and conditions, there is nowhere that it says they cant do this. They will make oral statements saying things like “If we did that we would lose the trust of our advertisers and go out of business”, but they have refused to put that in writing in any way, shape or form. In other words, they can do it."
Except that they won't, because what they say is actually true. For Google the money is in large numbers of advertisers, not in small numbers of affiliate clicks. This post makes no sense at all.
I agree for now. Google needs to protect their bread and butter, paid search, which requires advertisers to have a lot of trust that Google does not act in any way creating a conflict of interest.
However, right now is the good times for Google. The true test is to see how a company (or real people) acts during the tough times. Google's time as king of the mountain will only last so long, and it will be interesting to see how they handle their descent when the time comes.
Good point. However, even if times get tough for Google, the basic principle (a large number of advertisers that trust them are worth more than a smaller number of referrals) still stands. For Google to start screwing their advertisers, times would have to get so tough they'd want to throw their entire business model overboard. Somehow I doubt that will happen.
(and I say this as someone who's not particularly fond of Google to boot)
While that may be true at this point in time, there is no telling how long Google's corporate leaders will be in place and no guarantee that their current philosophy and ideals will remain constant.
Once they have your data, they can mine it forever...
Except that they won't, because what they say is actually true. For Google the money is in large numbers of advertisers, not in small numbers of affiliate clicks. This post makes no sense at all.