<P> In their 2004 founders' letter prior to their initial public offering, Larry Page and Sergey Brin argued that their "Don't be evil" culture prohibited conflicts of interest, and required objectivity and an absence of bias: </P> <P> Google users trust our systems to help them with important decisions: medical, financial and many others . Our search results are the best we know how to produce . They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating . We also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly . This is similar to a well - run newspaper, where the advertisements are clear and the articles are not influenced by the advertisers' payments . We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see . </P> <P> Chris Hoofnagle, director of University of California, Berkeley Law's information privacy programs, has stated that Google's original intention expressed by the "don't be evil" motto is linked to the company's separation of search results from advertising . However, he argues that clearly separating search results from sponsored links is required by law, thus, Google's practice is now mainstream and no longer remarkable or good . Hoofnagle argued in 2009 that Google should abandon the motto because: </P> <P> The evil talk is not only an albatross for Google, it obscures the substantial consumer benefits from Google's advertising model . Because we have forgotten the original context of Google's evil representations, the company should remind the public of the company's contribution to a revolution in search advertising, and highlight some overlooked benefits of their model . </P>

When did google remove don't be evil