Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#241

Post by troyvit » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 3:48 PM UTC

guhcampos wrote: post #116

goldenarm wrote: post #58

Why post a Google docs copy of the original article? https://www.mayrhofer.eu.org/post/leaving-google/

The blog post is from June 19th. Google Doc from June 17th. My guess? He shared the Google Doc link with his peers, but forgot that Google Docs links are public for anyone who knows the link, so someone just forwarded it to oblivion, and he was forced to publish that as blog post. The addendums kind of reflect that. That's a great reminded that any Google Doc with a shareable link is basically a public document for a…

> That's a great reminded that any Google Doc with a shareable link is basically a public document for all intents and purposes.

I read that as "for all indents and purposes"

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#242

Post by urbsgpw » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 3:48 PM UTC

anon7000 wrote: post #56

urbsgpw wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it laughable how when all of these platforms were aligned with the Dems the same behavior was ok (and it was those darned russians that were the problem on facebook and other platforms), whereas now that the tables have turned (for now...), it's all the end of the world. Whereas the feature of these platforms - their incredible power - was always the same. The outrage is then just a function of a person's pref…

What behavior was fine, exactly?

I should have been more precise. My point was merely that the tone of MSM and left leaning media and commentators took on those same platforms was completely different. So to your point, I agree, it was never fine, but it was only seen as problematic by the mainstream after the re-alignment with the Trump admin.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#243

Post by buran77 » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 3:51 PM UTC

cynicalkane wrote: post #228

Teever wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it different or are the people who voluntarily started working for Google around that period unable to admit to themselves and others that it was always questionable to work for a entity like Google? To certain observers this was obviously the direction tech monopolies were going to go. What have those people always seen that you're only now beginning to admit is an inherently defective aspect of these organizati…

Holy cow dude, I am not personally answerable for all the faults of a megacorp, nor am I "only now beginning to admit" anything in your imaginary personal history about me that you made up now. This entire thread makes me sad. A handful of people, the original writer and some other commenters, are saying "this corporation has changed for the worse in some ways" and the overwhelming majority of posts are these weirdos…

> I am not personally answerable for all the faults of a megacorp

It's not very fair for you to answer for the faults of the megacorp but to be honest you kind of put yourself in that position when you defended the indefensible.

For all intents and purposes, looking from a user/customer perspective, Google is just as morally bankrupt today as it was 9 years ago. And that's what really matters. You can rationalize it, you can pretend that you couldn't see the trend, that it didn't smell as bad back then, but at the end of the day what Google is doing today is just as morally acceptable as the things they were doing in 2017 were at the time. We just pushed the baseline down and normalized the ever worsening behaviors.

So let's not judge 2017 with the eyes from 2026 when the things done back then look more palatable. If you were to ask 2017 me about Google you'd get the same answer as today. Then again I wasn't paid by Google so I could afford to give that answer.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#244

Post by Teever » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC

cynicalkane wrote: post #228

Teever wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it different or are the people who voluntarily started working for Google around that period unable to admit to themselves and others that it was always questionable to work for a entity like Google? To certain observers this was obviously the direction tech monopolies were going to go. What have those people always seen that you're only now beginning to admit is an inherently defective aspect of these organizati…

Holy cow dude, I am not personally answerable for all the faults of a megacorp, nor am I "only now beginning to admit" anything in your imaginary personal history about me that you made up now. This entire thread makes me sad. A handful of people, the original writer and some other commenters, are saying "this corporation has changed for the worse in some ways" and the overwhelming majority of posts are these weirdos…

It's too convenient that so many of these stories go something like "It was okay when I joined but somewhere along the way things there got dirty, but I'm still clean!"

Why is it always that way?

Why is no one ever writing "It was always dirty there but I convinced myself that it wasn't until I couldn't do it anymore."

Because people don't want to admit "I made a mistake."

That's why.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#245

Post by bigbadfeline » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #69

jnaina wrote: post #3

moral clarity usually sharpens the moment the last RSU hits the brokerage account

Exactly. I am so tired of reading these stupid "why I am leaving my job after making millions". One thing I can say about myself: I work for money. That's it. Lots of things the companies that I work for (normally 25,000+ employees) do immoral and unethical things. Still, I stay, earn money, and I don't write stupid fucking self-righteous blog posts after I leave. At this point, blog posts like this look like an "own…

> I am so tired of reading these stupid "why I am"

Don't read them. The rest of us may actually gain from another perspective, different from corporate marketing.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#246

Post by cynicalkane » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

buran77 wrote: post #243

cynicalkane wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy cow dude, I am not personally answerable for all the faults of a megacorp, nor am I "only now beginning to admit" anything in your imaginary personal history about me that you made up now. This entire thread makes me sad. A handful of people, the original writer and some other commenters, are saying "this corporation has changed for the worse in some ways" and the overwhelming majority of posts are these weirdos…

> I am not personally answerable for all the faults of a megacorp It's not very fair for you to answer for the faults of the megacorp but to be honest you kind of put yourself in that position when you defended the indefensible. For all intents and purposes, looking from a user/customer perspective, Google is just as morally bankrupt today as it was 9 years ago. And that's what really matters. You can rationalize it,…

Where did I defend whatever "indefensible" things you're accusing me of defending? The OP post described specific ways Google's culture changed, on the inside. I said those were true. This was the entire scope of the claims I made.

Your response to that is "my personal opinion is canonical, your specific examples to the contrary don't matter, and I'm going to go ahead and imply you're bad for working there or saying anything."

I'm not going to spend more time here. I don't think you and these others are commenting in good faith.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#247

Post by sillyfluke » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:05 PM UTC

shantnutiwari wrote: post #67

bix6 wrote: post #62

> Google was a different company 9 years ago. No it wasn’t.

yeah, looks like some history rewriting. 9 years ago was 2017-- and by that time Google was already doing sleazy SEO shit, scanning peoples emails to who them ads, trying to make ads seem like general search results etc etc Google was *exactly* this company it is today

Yeah, I think since it's getting provably worse no matter where you start the clock everyone can claim this whenever they actually do leave.

Just to give one example, you have the Google founders bending the knee to Trump these days whereas when Trump started his first term you had articles like this:

"Google co-founder Sergey Brin joins protest against immigration order at San Francisco airport" (2017)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13512063

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#248

Post by dare944 » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:09 PM UTC

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #203

lokar wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many years infra was delightfully oblivious, just finding interesting things to build. :) Working on promo committee I could see how different ads was

Yeah I transferred through Access / Home / Hardware / Nest, with a foray through Fiber... it was a different world certainly. But there's also something about a PA being disconnected from its revenue sources to create a sense of unreality and distorted incentives.

Ex-googler here as well. I'm not sure the distortion was worse outside of the core business. In the peripheral businesses (if one can call them businesses), I think you had more of an opportunity to ponder the larger implications of your actions. As an early Nester I argued vociferously for designs that would specifically dis-empower Google as a central service, in deference to the end user and as barrier to future misuse. Of course many of these ideas were not accepted. But my sense was, had I been part of the core Ad business, many of these ideas would have been third-rail topics, subject to immediate shutdown. Whereas within the Nest org I was able to foster discussions on the topics at multiple levels.

Indeed, my impression was that people within the core Ad business were more adept at maintaining an air of integrity while doing substantively the opposite for the goal of optimizing revenue. I suspect that the closer you got to Google's "center of gravity" the more distorted your reality and motivations became.

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#249

Post by grim_io » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

dominotw wrote: post #229

grim_io wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, way to throw Mississippi under the bus by comparing them to us dirtpoor Europeans :) Whatever you think you have going over there, all things considered, you can keep it.

i am not american. have no idea what goes on there. All i know is that its one of the poorest states in usa. I know talking to europeans that they think they are peers of other 'white nations' like usa. But europeans are now closer to countries they colonized than to usa.

You are using some weird terminology like 'white nations'. I don't know where this is going, and I'm not keen on finding out, good day :)

Re: Why I'm Forced to Say Farewell: Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass

#250

Post by smackeyacky » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

gregw2 wrote: post #20

smackeyacky wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is easy to forget US history as the vast majority of us have only been exposed to the 1960s to 2000s era which in retrospect seem like an anomaly.

It's an interesting time window you chose. Why would there be an anomaly during that window (if there is one)? Perhaps it is due to the outward-facing, civic-oriented values coming out of WW2? There was a lot of reflection in America on what went wrong in German pre-war thinking and culture coming out of that period. The WW2 men in their 20s in 1940 were in their 40s in 1960s and their political power would have kept…

Time window is roughly to a non US citizen from when civil rights and women’s rights were ascending there. The last 20 odd years show a marked decline in both. I often wonder when segregation in the US will be introduced.