Jamal Awil

← The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

Page demanded that the whole process be simplified for advertisers. [fact]

The declaration of a state of exception functions in politics as cover for the suspension of the rule of law and the introduction of new executive powers justified by crisis. At Google in late 2000, it became a rationale for annulling the reciprocal relationship that existed between Google and its users, steeling the founders to abandon their passionate and public opposition to advertising. As a specific response to investors’ anxiety, the founders tasked the tiny AdWords team with the objective of looking for ways to make more money. Page demanded that the whole process be simplified for advertisers. In this new approach, he insisted that advertisers "shouldn't even get involved with choosing keywords—Google would choose them."

Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Cap…, loc. 230