Google Investor: Eric Schmidt: "Google Search is free & important service" (Video) "We rank information, there's winners & losers"

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Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt

Eric Schmidt on Government Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt talked to Gwen Ifill of PBS on the American and European investigations of Google's dominance of search. Ifill asked Schmidt, "How was it being hauled before Congress and basically being told that you had cooked your search results?" Schmidt replied, "Well, we, of course, said we had not. I assure you, we have not cooked anything, was my response. I think in many ways it's been good, at least so far, because it's made the company clear -- more clearly articulate how we make our decisions and in particular publicly describe that, which is to focus on consumers. So, so far, I think it's overall been positive. And I should say, by the way, that the government has a role here. This is their job to do, and so we have to respect that." Later, he said, "Washington is the government and, therefore, they can screw us up. So, that's the simple starting point. And, historically, the high-tech industry has largely ignored Washington."

Eric Schmidt on Google Search "We make decisions based on what our testing indicates consumers want in terms of a global search engine. I do understand that Google ranks information, and there's winners and losers. And those decisions have significant impact on people. So the word scares is their word, not mine. On the other hand, we provide a free and important service to an awful lot of people, and we take great pride in doing it right."

Eric Schmidt on the Economy "Government has a huge contribution to the economic situation in America. And everybody understands this. Government is both a standard-setter in terms of purchasing, as well as a regulator and so forth. The jobs are created by the private sector. The wealth is created by the private sector. We have proven as a country that we can create enormous numbers of such companies and wealth and people and so forth. What is important is, how do we get the productive parts of America working harder, with greater exports, with more investment, in the things that will grow the economy? That's the only conversation that matters. Everything else solves itself with growth."

Eric Schmidt on Social Media Ifill asked, "Does social media have the potential of completely transforming the way we communicate?" Schmidt replied, "Well, in many ways, it already has. We were late to this. We were focused on other things. And you sit down as CEO and you say, like, why didn't we focus more on that? Well, we were busy on this, this, this, this, which did really well. And so now we have a product called Google Plus, which is doing extremely well, which looks like a worthwhile competitor in a slightly different space, with more privacy controls, for example, than Facebook. Communication is what humans do. And the sense of community, the sense of reach, the sense of wonder that you can build out of these online communities is really very nice. In terms of discovery and knowing things and so forth, we at Google can use that information with your permission on our opt-in basis, I might add, to give you much better recommendations."

Google's Schmidt on the 'Winners and Losers' in Search Rankings Google is being investigated as to whether it may be violating anti-trust law in how it ranks websites when consumers do searches. Gwen Ifill talks to Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt as part of the Atlantic and Aspen Ideas Forum.

About Google Google describes itself in press releases as, "Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia."

Google's Mission Statement "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. The first step toward fulfilling that mission came when our founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, working out of a Stanford University dorm room, developed a new approach to online search that quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- a free service whose utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best-known brands almost entirely through word of mouth from satisfied users."

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