How goodwill is important？

Creating goodwill among people is important in almost every area of your life. Spreading goodwill makes people feel good about you, and it encourages them to spread goodwill to others. In business, creating goodwill can help you to build relationships that ensure the long-term success of your business. the goodwill asset becomes impaired by a decline in the value of the asset below the purchase price, the company would record a goodwill impairment. This is a signal that the value of the asset has fallen below the amount that the company originally paid for it. Goodwill is an intangible asset that is associated with the purchase of one company by another. Specifically, goodwill is the portion of the purchase price that is higher than the sum of the net fair value of all of the assets purchased in the acquisition and the liabilities assumed in the process. Goodwill is an accounting measure of a business's popularity and strength in its market. While goodwill's value on a company's books may be decreased due to market conditions, the only way this asset can be increased is through the business's acquisition of a subsidiary. Goodwill Write-Offs Affect Earnings

When the value of goodwill goes down, it is generally due to decreased brand value, negative market information about he company or the need to adjust for overpaying for the company. Before 2002, goodwill was amortized on the balance sheet -- like a patent, or copyright.
The rules changed in 2001. Since goodwill isn't automatically amortized, it doesn't effect net income and thus profitability. This changes, however, if a company concludes that the amount of goodwill on its books is overstated and a portion of it must be written off.

What was the length to begin with?