'Don't Be Evil' Tool Alters Google Searches

A few Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace engineers critical of Google's new search protocol spent the weekend cooking up a way to modify searches so they revert to the way they used to be. A new "Don't Be Evil" bookmarklet—ripping off Google's own mantra—was created by Facebook software engineers and its product director, reports the Los Angeles Times. The bookmarklet, available on the new website Focus on the User, returns searches to the old days before Google launched Search Plus Your World, which capitalizes on Google+. The changes infuriated Facebook and Twitter managers and others because users were more likely to be directed to Google+ profiles. "When Google's engineers are allowed to focus purely on relevancy, they get it right," says a comment on Focus on the User. So "try a more relevant Google," urges the site. Google officials were unavailable for comment. (More Google stories.)