Google caught pilfering Kenyan business directory in sting operation

Google caught pilfering Kenyan business directory in sting operation

Google's "don't be evil" motto has already come under scrutiny once this week after the company was found to be profiting from advertisements placed by fraudulent retailers. The search company is under fire again, amid claims that it has been harvesting data from a Kenyan business directory, contacting the businesses, and telling them that the directory plans to charge them a listing fee, while also claiming to be working in partnership with the directory's operators.

Mocality Kenya operates the largest business directory in Kenya. The directory uses an innovative crowdsourced business model to ensure that its contents are comprehensive and accurate: any Kenyan with a mobile phone can submit entries to the database, and when these entries have been validated, rewards are paid using M-Pesa, a mobile payment system used in a number of developing nations.

Mocality lists businesses of all sizes, and for many companies in the directory, a listing on Mocality is their first or only Web presence. The company does not offer Web sites or Web hosting; just a listing of the business's particulars in a directory. Mocality also operates a call center that business owners can contact should they need assistance in updating their listings.

Mocality's business is its database. The data is all published on the Web, and looking up companies through the Web site is free and unrestricted, but the company guards against automated attempts to harvest the data.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/google-caught-pilfering-kenyan-business-directory-in-sting-operation.ars