After coming under attack for refusing to add a simple hyperlink to help users find their privacy policy, Google has added the word “privacy”, with a link to its privacy policy, to its home page (image via Google):
Google, for whatever reason, isn’t directly acknowledging that there was public pressure to take this simple step. The announcement on Google’s public policy blog frames it in a self-congratulatory manner, noting how it’s putting “users’ privacy first and foremost” and strengthening user trust, etc, etc. And their main blog relates some odd story by
I’m thrilled Google has found the wisdom to add these 7 letters and a bit of HTML code to link to its privacy policy. I just wish they could be a bit more forthright in why it is important and why they’ve suddenly decided to make the change.
MichaelZimmer.org 
Curious that ability to comment is not allowed on MM’s blog post, surely to prevent the predictable criticism as to why to start off with lame title “What comes next in this series…” Later that evening, Pablo found it necessary to clearly state in the title of a follow-up post, “A Privacy Link on Google.com,” which allows comments, by the way.