In my opinion, I think manipulation is the dark side of influence. Influence can have bad and good side depending on what your intentions are. If you’re trying to influence people for a good cause, then it’s good. If you’re trying to influence others for your own benefits, then it’s bad. When you take an extra step to try to influence others to change their behaviors for your own benefits, then you’re becoming manipulative. I think the big difference between manipulation and influence is that manipulation takes an extra step to get someone do something the way you want it whether it’s good or bad. When you manipulate someone, you don’t care if the outcomes will affect them negatively or positively. This is when ethic issues come in. It’s unethical to deceive and manipulate others for one’s own benefits.
When trying to influence others, leaders should take into account the people that are being affected by their actions. They should not hide any information and allow people to judge for themselves. In Google’s example, if the company is trying to do things with their search that influenced people, but for the people’s own benefit, then it’s ok. Question is how would we know if the people will benefit from it? What if the company’s is trying to manipulate people in thinking that it’s for their own good?
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