A PR Challenge

Google has a PR challenge in how it uses raters.  These are contracted staff who perform daily tasks on Google, including making sure advertising is not placed opposite inappropriate content.  The challenge is making these 10,000 people feel like they are part of the search giant.  They aren’t.  They are outsourced employees of separate companies and as such, they enjoy none of the benefits of Google’s hires.  Because they are not part of Google but still a vital part of the search giant’s work, they should be treated better than they are, but they aren’t.  Google has taken a hands-off approach, which is what clothing and shoe companies did in Asia.  It took activist pressure to change the ill-handling of employees there. Google could be facing the same kind of force to revise relations with raters and setting standards for its contracting companies.  If Google were canny, it would move now before its brand is smudged by more sad stories of a rater’s life.