The 2012 Google Clusterfuck Countdown

A continuously updated list of Google’s public mishaps in 2012:

17 Feb: iPhone Tracking
Google is caught circumventing Safari’s built-in privacy settings to place tracking cookies in mobile users’ browsers.

02 Feb: Google Maps fined in France
A French court convicts Google of abuse of its dominant market position with its Maps service and fines it €500,000. Google appeals the judgment.

29 Jan: Google’s New Privacy Policy
Google announces a new unified privacy policy which receives widespread condemnation. Microsoft seizes the opportunity to launch an anti-Google advertisement.

25 Jan: The Google Sting
A WSJ article reveals more damning details of Google’s business practices that lead to the 2011 $500m DOJ settlement.

16 Jan: Open Street Maps Vandalism
Google contractors are caught vandalising Open Street Map data.

13 Jan: Google Kenya caught in SME scam
Google’s ‘Getting Kenyan Businesses Online’ programme is caught red-handed scamming small businesses.

10 Jan: Search Plus Your World
Google launches ‘Search Plus Your World’ and is greeted by widespread criticism for favouring its own Google+ product and decreasing search result relevance.

10 Jan: Selling Illegal Ads
After expensive legal settlements for earlier offenses in 2007 and 2011, Google is yet again caught selling AdWords ads for illegal products, including cannabis, fake IDs, and fake Olympic tickets.

02 Jan: Chrome Link Buying
Google is caught buying links to promote its Chrome browser.

01 Jan: Manipulating +1 Upvotes
Google appears to be manipulating +1 upvotes in AdWords ads.

More will be added as they (inevitably) occur.

Google Noose image credit: freelance SEO Alex Moss

The 2012 Google Clusterfuck Countdown is a blog post from Barry Adams.