Google 2014 Annual Report Download - page 16

10 GOOGLE INC.
PART I

In addition, as nearly all of our products and services are web-based, the amount of data we store for our users on our servers

of our users’ data could seriously limit the adoption of our products and services, as well as harm our reputation and brand and,

these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of web-based products

Regulatory authorities around the world are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection,
including measures to ensure that our encryption of users’ data does not hinder law enforcement agencies’ access to that data.




to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business.
If our security measures are breached, or if our services are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of users to
access our products and services, our products and services may be perceived as not being secure, users and customers
may curtail or stop using our products and services, and we may incur signicant legal and nancial exposure.
Our products and services involve the storage and transmission of users’ and customers’ proprietary information, and security

degrees on a regular basis. Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance, system errors or
vulnerabilities, or otherwise. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, users, or customers to
disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ or customers’ data. Any such breach or unauthorized


unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until
launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If

be harmed and we could lose users and customers.
We face a number of manufacturing and supply chain risks that, if not properly managed, could adversely impact our
nancial results and prospects.

quality issues resulting from the design or manufacture of the product, or from the software used in the product. Sometimes,
these issues may be caused by components we purchase from other manufacturers or suppliers. If the quality of our products
does not meet our customers’ expectations or our products are found to be defective, then our sales and operating earnings,
and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.




with them.




addition, some of the components we use in our products are available only from a single source or limited sources, and we may

Additionally, because many of our supply contracts have volume-based pricing or minimum purchase requirements, if the volume
of our hardware sales decreases or does not reach projected targets, we could face increased materials and manufacturing


terms based on volume and other commitments that may provide them with competitive advantages and may impact our supply.

employment practices, data security, environmental compliance and intellectual property licensing, but we do not control them
or their practices. If any of them violates laws or implements practices regarded as unethical, we could experience supply chain