[alternativetoo]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil

> Following Google's corporate restructuring under the conglomerate Alphabet Inc. in October 2015, the motto was replaced in the Alphabet corporate code of conduct by the phrase "Do the right thing"; however, the Google code of conduct is still prefaced by the phrase "Don't be evil"

Come to think of it, those are both equally useless mottos. Most people any of us may consider evil are not evil in their own eyes. Such a motto contains nothing at all, it says even less ethically than "brush your teeth" or "introduce yourself when meeting new people".

Unless it's meant as a slight counterbalance to pure profit seeking? Yet, some people think free market agents seeking profits is the most holy and pure thing ever, with the virgin birth coming a far off second, so I'll still go with "completely useless and void of meaning" because that seems safer :P

[cromwellian]

Really, IMHO Google "motto" boils down to "try not to be a dick". We don't always succeed (e.g. opt-in vs opt-out stuff, Real Names, etc), and employees don't always agree with what is done, but the company is too large with too many projects and too many users now not for mistakes to happen or edge cases not to be hit. Someone will always be upset with something, and so if you have some principle to guide you, at least you have something pushing back in a good direction.

I would argue that it's both a counterbalance to pure profit making decisions, but also, a pro-profit position. Sooner or later, too many user hostile decisions will lead to too much customer loss, and so trying to push back again those tendencies perhaps delays or avoids the loss.

[update]

> Come to think of it, those are both equally useless mottos. Most people any of us may consider evil are not evil in their own eyes. Such a motto contains nothing at all

says a lot about a company who makes that their motto doesn't it?

[alternativetoo]

It says that they're a company with a motto. For me that is enough to brace for something cringeworthy, and this list confirms my worst fears:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mottos#Business

Pretty depressing.. except for the fact that the "Pony" motto links to the animal, not the company (please nobody fix that).

[bigbugbag]

> Most people any of us may consider evil are not evil in their own eyes.

  "Evil," says Google CEO Eric Schmidt, "is what Sergey says is evil."[1]

[1]: https://www.wired.com/2003/01/google-10/