Bernard Ginns: Don’t be evil? Google doesn’t even know how to spend it

This is the question facing Larry Page, the chief executive of Google, which in little over 15 years has grown from geeky start-up to become one of the most powerful technology companies in the world.

It has also amassed one of the largest cash piles on the planet.

“We are in a bit of uncharted territory,” said Mr Page in an interview with the Financial Times this weekend.

“We are trying to figure it out. How do we use all these resources... and have a much more positive impact on the world?”

This concern seems appropriate for a company whose motto used to be “Don’t Be Evil”.

Mr Page apparently agrees that Silicon Valley is now overheated.

He said: “There’s definitely a lot of capital and excitement, and these things tend to happen in cycles.”

Mr Page said much of the money flooding into the sector is drawn by the promise of easy profits, according to the FT.

He added: “You can make an internet company with 10 people and it can have billions of users. It doesn’t take much capital and it makes a lot of money - a really, really lot of money - so it’s natural for everyone to focus on those kinds of things.”

Another industry behemoth, Facebook, is similarly concerned with big ambitions.

The social network, which currently has 1.3bn users, wants to connect everyone, understand the world and build the knowledge economy.

Both Google and Facebook have run into trouble with regulators, particularly in Europe, as they learn that with power comes responsibility.

They are also discovering that with rapid growth comes size and with size often comes an inability to move as quickly.

Picture these two lumbering tech giants being assailed one day, perhaps even mortally wounded, by lightning-fast upstarts with smarter, more agile weapons at their disposal.

Who knows, their foes may even come from Yorkshire, from one of our growing digital clusters in cities like Hull, Sheffield, Bradford, York or Leeds, where clever startups are fermenting the ingredients for the next cultural revolution as Google and Facebook grapple with lofty ideals and puzzle over how to deploy their cash.

* This summer I managed to get two puns into one intro when I reported that it would be crunch time for Europe’s crumbling biscuit factories.

Quoting the Yorkshire ice cream tycoon James Lambert, I reported that there was “a real opportunity” to shake up a sector in need of investment and innovation.

Mr Lambert helped Ontario Teachers secure the acquisition of Burton’s Biscuits earlier this year and was appointed chairman in April.

The mergers and acquisitions activity continued yesterday when Turkish food conglomerate Yildiz Holdings announced it had swallowed up McVitie’s and Jaffa Cakes maker United Biscuits in a deal worth £2bn.

Yildiz was reported to have prevailed against rival bids from Burton’s and Kellogg’s.

It said the deal, under which existing management at United would remain in place, would form the world’s third largest biscuit maker.

United - whose brands include Jacob’s, Twiglets, Mini Cheddars, and Carr’s - was put up for sale by private equity owners Blackstone and PAI Partners.

Based in Middlesex, it employs around 7,100 people with about 4,600 in the UK at sites including London, Manchester, Carlisle, Glasgow, Halifax, Liverpool and Leicestershire.

Yildiz, which also owns Belgium’s Godiva Chocolate and America’s De Met’s Candy Company, said it has a strong record building on brands.

It has minimal sales and no manufacturing in the UK but a strong presence in North America, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as China and Japan.

Crumbs! I nearly forgot to close with a pun.