Re:Google threatened tech influencers unless they 'preferred...
by gruez on Friday August 16, 2024 @10:55PM
(#41271970)
Why? Are you against the program in principle or how it was executed (ie. reviewers got in the program)? I don't see any issues with giving out free phones in exchange for good publicity, as long as it's properly disclosed. The execution was suboptimal but I don't see any evidence of malice either.
Re:Google threatened tech influencers unless they 'preferred...
by CatWChainsaw on Friday August 16, 2024 @10:58PM
(#41271976)
Well, to be fair, Google clearly designated content creators they thought they could threaten into silence as their literal marks, so accidentally letting tougher audiences see the language is "missing the mark".
Honestly, every corporate apology is just "sorry you caught us, next time you won't."
* The program seemed intended for influencers of the non-reviewer and non-press variety.
* Nonetheless, a fair number of reviewers were in the program, and the reviewers are the ones who've spoken up about the language.
Google's statement here in essence implies total blindness to the fact that there were tech reviewers in the program ("#TeamPixel is a distinct program, separate from our press and creator reviews programs. The goal of #TeamPixel is to get Pixel devices into the hands of content creators, not press and tech reviewers. We missed the mark with this new language that appeared in the #TeamPixel form yesterday, and it has been removed.").
^^This all makes it look even worse in my opinion.