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Pearl offered a compromise. We would turn SafeSearch on for catalog search if the user had already activated it for web search. I felt that was insufficient, but I recognized that the decision belonged in the product group and I conceded the argument. I was concerned about becoming "the guy who was always concerned," an alarmist doomsayer whose prophecies were rightly ignored. Not a good fit for a company with an emphasis on moving boldly ahead as quickly as possible. The first week of December 2001, Lauren Baptist, the lead engineer, pointed Googlers to a working prototype.

One of those who looked at it was Schwim, the ops guy who liked to edit my copy. "I'm flabbergasted this got so close to launching," he told me. While casually browsing through the catalogs, he had found ample adult content. A broad group, including engineers, also felt the product wasn't ready for prime time. I let Cindy know that the launch, scheduled for that week, might have hit a snag.

Cindy had been unaware of the filtering issue, but immediately recognized it as a potential PR liability and informed the product team that the risk was unacceptable. Marissa explained again why full filtering couldn't be done, but Cindy remained adamant. Her opinion carried considerable weight, so rather than debate filtering options ad infinitum, the team removed the adult catalogs altogether. That led to deep philosophical discussions about what constituted an "adult" catalog—and to a heightened awareness among all staff about the existence of "anal toys."

Finally, the product launched and all was copacetic. For about a week. Then CNET ran an article that said we would "sell retailers the names and addresses of Google users who request a specific catalog in the mail," and that we had "suggested selling links to product pages on retailers' Web sites."*

Gerald Aigner, our chief frugality officer, was outraged, and complained to the founders that the article implied that we would sell user data and that we put revenue ahead of user interests. "This is a true marketing fiasco," he said. "We basically screwed totally up."

I was just as unhappy about it as Gerald, even though the article was quoting me. Larry had given me specific instructions to add information on our web page directed toward catalog publishers. The copy I wrote said in part, "What are the keywords users enter to find your catalog? How many pages do they typically examine? Google can provide you with information about how your customers use your catalog in ways no other research tool can, all while adhering to the strictest standards of individual user privacy." There were references to ad programs Google was developing and to Google's ability to help generate leads, including "the names and addresses of our users who have specifically requested that your catalog be mailed to them."

We had never telegraphed our product-development plans before, nor given any hint that we might sell user data, even if our users said it was okay to do so. So why do it this time? It was all part of Larry's master plan. If we were explicit about the potential of catalog search for marketers, they might call off their own legal departments when they noticed we hadn't asked permission to include their copyrighted materials.

Larry always thought strategically and never hesitated to make short-term sacrifices to win a more important battle down the road. Trying to pry that strategy out of him was like squeezing water out of a rock, but when he did baptize us with drops of his wisdom or give us insight into his stream of consciousness, I couldn't help marveling at the depth of his thinking and the breadth of his understanding. His pragmatism around user privacy gave me pause, however. I believed absolutely that we would never provide any user's personal data to an outside party, but Larry's willingness to play around the edges of perception made me—dare I say it?—concerned.

Let's Do Launch

Bay Chang was a quiet, good-humored member of our UI team with a floppy mop of jet-black hair that reminded me of the cartoon