Google: go transparent
: Seth Goldstein makes a good case for Google to be transparent about its clickstream: the number of searches, the number of sponsored clicks, and the average cost per sponsored click. He makes this argument on behalf of investors, now that they are public, since Google has — with what is, sadly, becoming its typical hubris — declaring that it’s not going to report financial results the way other public companies do. (But just watch: This will deflate the company’s value and they will be forced to do what the investment community demands. In the end, the Google IPO turned out the way the investment market would have had it turn out. The marketplace always wins.)
But there is another reason for Google transparency: Its customers and affiliates deserve to know what’s happening. Advertisers want to know more about where their ads appear and what happens to them. And content owners should get more details on what is served on their sites and what they are paid as a resalt.
Google is now a public company and must be transparent in public. Transparency is one protection against evil.
