I guess when you as a company claim the high ground ("do no evil")
The slogan wasn't "do no evil", which is impossible, but "don't be evil," which is much closer to being within reach; and its intended audience was Google employees, not people outside the company. Google probably should have aggressively refused to comment on rumors that this slogan was widespread, rather than publicly confirming it.
A cynic might argue that the constant press attacks on Google resulting from this slogan are from people who have resigned themselves to being evil and are angry that someone else has the courage to attempt otherwise.
The slogan wasn't "do no evil", which is impossible, but "don't be evil," which is much closer to being within reach; and its intended audience was Google employees, not people outside the company. Google probably should have aggressively refused to comment on rumors that this slogan was widespread, rather than publicly confirming it.
A cynic might argue that the constant press attacks on Google resulting from this slogan are from people who have resigned themselves to being evil and are angry that someone else has the courage to attempt otherwise.