Finally, we know the secret to Google's success.
It's plain old stupidity.
And that's straight from the mouth of CEO Eric Schmidt, who sat down last Friday with a group of reporters for an informal Q&A session during the Herb Allen Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. One of the reporters was
Reuters reporter Kenneth Li, who
transcribed choice excerpts and provided an
audio file of the 39-minute chat.
Asked about the bad press Google has attracted, here's what Schmidt
said:
"Between the time we filed to go public and the time we went
public, the press was among the most unpleasant I have ever experienced.
We were 'idiots,' we were 'useless.' We probably were idiots, I'm not
criticizing the press. ... So, we looked at traffic and revenue and they
were exploding. We had a very, very strong quarter right after the worst
possible press about 'the idiots running the company.' "
After a pause, Schmidt said: "So, yes we are
idiots -- and please
write that down."
Schmidt got his wish, of course, as his quotes spread through the blogosphere. Searchblog was among the first, running it under a post titled,
"Admitting Mistakes, Schmidt." Search Engine Watch ate it up, saying,
"Some people may be a little disturbed by this unusual happenstance, but
I think overall, it brings Google back to being human."
I agree. Schmidt's comment is human in the way that humans can be
slippery and manipulative. Go back and listen to the audio of the
interview (it starts at about the 26:14 point) and see for yourself whether
this little speech sounds, as it did to me, very much rehearsed.
Schmidt's little speech came in response to a question about the
negative press surrounding a used Boeing 767 jet bought by Google co-founders
Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Rather than addressing the question
directly, Schmidt pulls a classic bit of PR spin: evading the question
with what appears to be an enticing quote that actually serves your agenda.
Kevin Kelleher
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