Google Slaps CNET for Googling Schmidt

Google's ungracious response to Elinor Mills July 14 CNET story revealing details about CEO Eric Schmidt's life is certainly raising cyber-eyebrows. Mills kicked off her story on privacy with some details she googled up about Schmidt's net worth, his city of residence and a political fundraiser he hosted some time ago.

Google was not amused. David Kirkpatrick's well-crafted Fast Forward column, "Google and Apple: Are They Media Bullies?" (August 19) details Google's reaction:

Google apparently thinks that CNET went too far in its Googling, because it has told the news organization that its officials won't talk to its reporters for a year. Seems that Google executives hadn't figured out—until very recently—just how much their technology is affecting our lives.

If you've ever Googled yourself, you've found all kinds of disturbing stuff. You don't see me wigging out because Googling me reveals a long ago quote in BusinessWeek indicating that my cats were the smartest expenditure I have made on my child. Surely I could have come up with something more impressive than that.

But Google knows better.

Update: The story is making the blogo-rounds, and this is also a fun read on the topic.

Thanks to CHENer Juli Greenwood for flagging the Fortune article to all of us.