I have to say, it all sounds a bit thin - but even then, I would think you deserve the effort of a reply to your situation.
If you are able to provide genuine valuable content to users through an integrated API service (no matter who the provider of that API is), Google should place high 'content' value on that as well. After all, Google wants the web to be of 'value' to users, which in the grand internet cycle, brings them money through Adwords, etc.
It could be all coincidence. In order to clear it up, it makes sense that open, honest communication between Google and you (Ron) starts again.
Best of luck - I certainly hope it can be cleared up, as I hate to think of the potential business ideas (and revenue!) that will be discarded if developers feel they can't trust Google and its services.
They did change the TOS without notice and without announcing it. The fact that the story hit TechCrunch last June and Google hasn't cleared up the situation doesn't put Google's actions in a good light. My guess is there was a change in business strategy at some point and Totlol is a casualty of this.
"Not trusting Google" seems to be a theme on the internet lately.
Presumably Google, being no fools, will pick up on that and understand that it's a problem, both for advertisers and developers.
It's just a question of how long it takes them.
It's entirely possible that many of these situations with Google looking bad are primarily a result of them just not communicating. But presumably Google could figure that out, too. They're the only ones with the information to do so.
While several e-mails were sent back and forth, I have a hard time calling the conversation effective communication on Google's part. Saying one thing and doing another is not communication.
"I contacted Hunter. I contacted Kuan. I contacted Stephanie. I even sent an e-mail to legal@google.com
"Stephanie "can't remember exactly" what the reason for the delay was. Her "memory is hazy". These are direct quotes in case you wondered. Kuan won't answer a simple question regarding his own I/O presentation. I guess he doesn't want to lie. If replying, Hunter emits random legal verbiage. The person who actually made the decisions is courageously hiding behind them."
Comments
I have to say, it all sounds a bit thin - but even then, I would think you deserve the effort of a reply to your situation.
If you are able to provide genuine valuable content to users through an integrated API service (no matter who the provider of that API is), Google should place high 'content' value on that as well. After all, Google wants the web to be of 'value' to users, which in the grand internet cycle, brings them money through Adwords, etc.
It could be all coincidence. In order to clear it up, it makes sense that open, honest communication between Google and you (Ron) starts again.
Best of luck - I certainly hope it can be cleared up, as I hate to think of the potential business ideas (and revenue!) that will be discarded if developers feel they can't trust Google and its services.
>It could be all coincidence
They did change the TOS without notice and without announcing it. The fact that the story hit TechCrunch last June and Google hasn't cleared up the situation doesn't put Google's actions in a good light. My guess is there was a change in business strategy at some point and Totlol is a casualty of this.
"Not trusting Google" seems to be a theme on the internet lately.
Presumably Google, being no fools, will pick up on that and understand that it's a problem, both for advertisers and developers.
It's just a question of how long it takes them.
It's entirely possible that many of these situations with Google looking bad are primarily a result of them just not communicating. But presumably Google could figure that out, too. They're the only ones with the information to do so.
It seems that several different people at Google did plenty of communicating with Ron. What we have here is (NOT) a failure to communicate!
While several e-mails were sent back and forth, I have a hard time calling the conversation effective communication on Google's part. Saying one thing and doing another is not communication.
Have you read the post ? That is a lot of email back and fort. The author even had a meeting with a Google director and spoke with a manager.
Yes. From the end of the post:
"I contacted Hunter. I contacted Kuan. I contacted Stephanie. I even sent an e-mail to legal@google.com
"Stephanie "can't remember exactly" what the reason for the delay was. Her "memory is hazy". These are direct quotes in case you wondered. Kuan won't answer a simple question regarding his own I/O presentation. I guess he doesn't want to lie. If replying, Hunter emits random legal verbiage. The person who actually made the decisions is courageously hiding behind them."
This is not effective communication.
Evidence shows that big companies tends to ignore that kind of problems altogether. Think of Microsoft and Apple with their Appstore.