Friday, July 14, 2017

Google, It's Complicated - Blog Post #7

This article reports that Google has been paying academics to publish research favorable to its business, and without disclosing their financial relationship.  However, it’s proven to be a bit more complicate.  The Google Transparency Project (GTP) reports several academics who say they have never received money from Google.  For example, Annemaire Bridy, Barbara Van Schewick, and Aaron Perzanowski, are named as financial donors, but are nothing more than individuals who happen to be affiliated with knowing one of Google’s funders.  There is also something called cy pres payments.  This is where a judge allocates money from a class action settlement to another recipient.  Another recipient in this case was Google.  This is indirect funding, which makes it complicated.  If you think about it, this is also a way that Google is again advertising itself.  It’s interesting that the article chooses “it’s complicated”, which is similar to the status on facebook. 


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