Google.org, corporate philanthropy the usual way

If you were only to read mainstream media outlets, such as the New York Times and Slate, you’d think that Google.org’s for-profit philanthropy model is reinventing the concept of giving.

"Unlike most charities, this one will be for-profit, allowing it to fund start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress. It will also pay taxes."

"Google's willfully innovative approach to philanthropy has made the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seem like a 2.0 philanthropy in a 3.0 world."

But I think that White Courtesy Telephone has a better read on it when Glauco muses:

"It’s not a new philanthropy, it’s not a new way of doing philanthropy. It’s a corporate giving program not much different from any other."

Though Google's rapid market expansion has yet to cause the kind of blowback that occured to Microsoft and in the 90's with the browser wars (doesn't that now seem a lot about nothing), it is really only a matter of time, as demonstrated by the widespread negative reaction to its censored service for 1/5 of the world's population living in China.

When faced with such business challenges, conventional wisdom calls for publically launching a highly visible corporate giving program, while privately expanding government lobbying efforts, all in an effort to insure continued public good will.

Funny, that’s just what Google is doing.