Former Google employee says he was fired because of blog comments
{{date|February 12, 2005}}
A former employee of [[w:Google, Inc.|Google, Inc.]] has said he was fired after he made a series of unfavorable comments about the company on a publically-viewable [[w:blog|blog]]. Mark Jen, formerly a [[w:Microsoft|Microsoft]] employee, began work at the [[w:Mountain View, California|Mountain View, California]] company on January 18. He then went on to make several observations about the company over the following week. In particular, some of the comments included information on the company's financial situation garnered from an internal conference and indications of the company's new products for 2005.

Nine days later, apparently of his own volition, Jen removed the comments from his blog. However, on January 28, Google fired him, an act which Jen attributes to his blogging. Google has not commented on his dismissal to other news sources, but has acknowledged that Jen no longer works at the company.

In his blog, on February 11, 2005, Jen appeared positive about his future. "I've actually viewed this as a great learning experience. Obviously, I've gotten a first-hand chance to learn about the power of blogging. I've also learned to be a little more analytical about situations, a lot more cautious and a lot less assuming." 

==References==

*{{blogsource|author=Mark Jen |url=http://99zeros.blogspot.com/ |title= |name=(99zeros) |date=February 11, 2005}}
*{{blogsource|author=Mark Jen |url=http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2005/01/26/mark-jens-blog-is-back-up/ |title=Mark Jen's Blog Is Back Up |name=(Inside Google) |date=January 26, 2005 }}
*{{blogsource|author=Jeremy Zawodny |url=http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/004157.html |title=A Chat with Mark Jen |name=(Jeremy Zawodny) |date=February 9, 2005 }}
*{{blogsource|author=Evan Hansen|url=http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1038_3-5572936.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=|title=Google blogger: 'I was terminated' |name=(New York Times) |date=February 11, 2005 }}
* {{source|title=Have a blog, lose your job?
|url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/14/news/economy/blogging/index.htm?cnn=yes
|author=Krysten Crawford
|pub=CNN/Money
|date=Monday, February 14, 2005}}

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[[Category:Economy and business]]
[[Category:Google]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:United States]]
A former employee of Google, Inc. has said he was fired after he made a series of unfavorable comments about the company on a publically-viewable blog. Mark Jen, formerly a Microsoft employee, began work at the Mountain View, California company on January 18. He then went on to make several observations about the company over the following week. In particular, some of the comments included information on the company's financial situation garnered from an internal conference and indications of the company's new products for 2005.

Nine days later, apparently of his own volition, Jen removed the comments from his blog. However, on January 28, Google fired him, an act which Jen attributes to his blogging. Google has not commented on his dismissal to other news sources, but has acknowledged that Jen no longer works at the company.

In his blog, on February 11, 2005, Jen appeared positive about his future. "I've actually viewed this as a great learning experience. Obviously, I've gotten a first-hand chance to learn about the power of blogging. I've also learned to be a little more analytical about situations, a lot more cautious and a lot less assuming."
Economy and business Google Internet United States