Yeah, it's not a new thing, but I wouldn't say always. Like many of us I've been using Google for its entire lifetime. The motto got introduced at around the halfway mark in 2005 or 2006 if I remember correctly. That was also the time the censorship in China scandal erupted. I think before this there was less concern about their motivations, but I may just be misremembering.
I've been around for the whole lifetime as well and what I remember was technical people gushing all over google for every little thing. I don't remember when the motto came out but I remember that being the point where I knew I didn't like google anymore: to me that sort of thing is just blatant manipulation, which is intelligence-insulting.
We're on the same page. Honestly I'm not even that upset about Reader, I mean it's hardly a surprise.
I looked it up and they announced the motto with the IPO in 2004. Sometimes I think I compare their actions now to my expectations of the pre-IPO company; it doesn't really make sense.
