GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
Filtered by: Scitech
SciTech
Google fires Kenya head over ethics row
Search giant Google has fired its country lead for Kenya and a "technical guy in Zurich" over a controversy there that raised questions about Google's business ethics.
Kenya-based tech-oriented blog said Google has let go of Olga Arara-Kimani and the "technical guy" over what is locally known as the "Google Mocality Saga."
"It is not clear how Olga was picked for the fall but as one observer noted, sometimes a sacrificial lamb has to be found for the brand name to weather the storm... It is unfortunate as the Google getting businesses online that ended up causing so much mayhem was one of the first major projects Olga oversaw," the blog said.
The blog entry appeared to concur with a Google+ entry by Nelson Mattos, vice president of engineering for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
While Mattos did not mention names or directly say someone was fired, he said "appropriate action" had been taken regarding the people involved.
"We’ve concluded our investigation into the serious allegations about our use of data from Mocality’s website in Kenya. We’re very sorry this happened. We’ve taken appropriate action with the people involved and made changes in our operations to ensure this doesn’t occur again," Mattos said.
A separate article on The Next Web said the controversy stemmed from Kenya’s largest business directory Mocality criticizing Google’s supposedly unethical business practices in Kenya.
Mocality had claimed Google representatives had been using the Mocality database to promote Google’s competing product, while misleading Mocality’s clients on the existing relationship between the two companies.
"The news rapidly became viral, tarnishing Google’s image – unfair competition against an African business doesn’t go very well with the company’s 'Don’t be evil' mantra. A serious PR crisis was looming, which could annihilate the impact of Google’s initiatives in the region," The Next Web said.
Google promptly apologized, saying it was “mortified,” and announced an internal investigation.
"It may have taken a few weeks, but the results are there; the company took action and finally fired two employees, although their involvement in those malpractices is still unclear," The Next Web said. — TJD, GMA News
Find out your candidates' profile
Find the latest news
Find out individual candidate platforms
Choose your candidates and print out your selection.
Voter Demographics
More Videos
