W6 Discussion: Case Study on Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-3h Expanding the Product Mix Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

10-3h Expanding the Product Mix

Google offers a number of other popular products to businesses and consumers. Google

Translate and Google Maps offer automated translation and mapping/directional services.

Google Analytics tracks and freely reports website traffic statistics, giving businesses a

market research tool to understand how customers are interacting with their websites.

Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud and share them with others. The service

offers 15 gigabytes of free storage per user, and more can be purchased if desired. The

company is also investing in artificial intelligence processing and has developed a new chip

called the Tensor Processing Unit. Early studies of the chip claim that it runs 30–80 times

more efficiently than competitors’, leading to a possible breakthrough in the more

sophisticated systems needed to run artificial intelligence applications.

Google is also known for its forays into exciting and cutting-edge technologies, especially

through its secretive Google X department, whose mission is to develop “moon-shots”

—science fiction-like technologies that have a slim chance of succeeding but could change

the world if they do. Research projects underway at Google X include self-driving car

technology and a drone-based product delivery system. One of these initiatives involved

developing a real-time heads-up display for the average consumer. The end result was

Google Glass, a wearable computer in the form of glasses worn on the face that can display

information in front of the wearer’s eyes, respond to verbal and movement commands, and

more. Google Glass was publicly released in 2014 and has been applied to a wide variety of

commercial applications, from providing doctors with hands-free information during surgery

to helping autistic children interact with their environment. However, the device also created

privacy concerns, as the glasses are so unassuming that it is relatively easy to record

others without their permission. There is concern that students could use Google Glass to

cheat by wearing it during tests without anyone noticing. Cheating concerns are not limited

to the classroom; many casinos banned Google Glass from their floors. Google ended up

pulling the prototype but plans to release a more developed version in the future.

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-3h Expanding the Product Mix Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

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