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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Google Founders Were Disagreeing Over Interest-based Ads, WSJ Says

Company-internal disagreements are natural and likely healthy but I think it’s interesting what they are about – from the Wall Street Journal:

By late 2008, Google executives were preparing to launch ads targeted at users’ interests. But the specifics still remained controversial.

Tensions erupted during a meeting with about a dozen executives at Google’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters about 18 months ago when Messrs. Page and Brin shouted at each other over how aggressively Google should move into targeting, according to a person who had knowledge of the meeting. “It was awkward,” this person said. “It was like watching your parents fight.”

Mr. Brin was more reluctant than Mr. Page, this person said. Eventually, he acquiesced and plans for Google to sell ads targeted to people’s interests went ahead.

Google launched the new advertising product, “interest-based ads” in March 2009. The service, currently available only to a limited group of advertisers, uses cookies to track any time a user visits one of the more than one million sites where Google sells display ads.

[Thanks TomHTML!]

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