The newly formed massive corporate conglomerate Alphabet has dropped the infamous catch phrase of “don’t be evil” from its codebook. As of last Friday, Alphabet is the new holding company of major technology company Google.
Instead of “don’t be evil”, Alphabet has a new replacement phrase in its codebooks.
It reads, “Employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries and controlled affiliates should do the right thing—follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.”
Google included a similar “don’t be evil” clause into its code of conduct shortly after the company was founded. It used the motto as a way to showcase the company’s independence.
Google plans to continue using the slogan, despite being a subsidiary of Alphabet. The company considers the slogan to be a part of their culture.
However, Alphabet, while strongly associated with Google, wants to develop its own motions and a culture of its own that is independent from Google.
The phrase was even incorporated by Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin into a letter before the day of their initial public offering back in 2004.
The motto has been integrated into Google’s complex algorithm for determining what search results are relevant for a user.
Some observers believe that the shift might represent one way that Alphabet is trying to differentiate itself from Google and start things fresh with a clean slate.
The phrase had attracted some criticism, as some people believed that it was ambiguous and somewhat hypocritical.
Other people believe that Alphabet is trying to attract new investors by changing its code of conduct. The company is reportedly making an effort to look beyond its core search engine and advertising businesses.
On Monday, Alphabet began trading on the NASDAQ stock market. It is using Google’s former ticker symbols of GOOG and GOOGL.
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