Can Google chip away at the great wall of China?

[fallout man]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0081dbd4-35e9-11df-aa43-00144feabdc0.html

Google ends censorship of China site
By Richard Waters in San Francisco

Google on Monday carried through on its promise to end censorship of its local Chinese search engine, drawing an immediate and angry accusation from a Chinese official that raised the prospects of retaliatory action.

The US internet company sought to lessen Chinese anger by redirecting all search requests on its local Chinese service to its Hong Kong arm, which it said stood beyond the reach of Chinese censors.

“It’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China,” David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said in a blog post announcing the move. “We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services.”

However, a Chinese official quoted by an official news service called the decision “totally wrong”, and said Google had breached “the written promise it made on entering the Chinese market”.

It was not immediately clear whether Chinese censors were taking steps to counter the change, which was announced and became effective in the middle of the night in Beijing. Beijing could block access in China to both Google’s local and Hong Kong search sites, just as it blocks many foreign websites on the mainland.

Meanwhile, the US administration continued to distance itself from any involvement in Google’s decision, while offering broad support for greater internet freedom. “We are disappointed that Google and the Chinese government were unable to reach an agreement that would allow Google to continue operating its search services in China on its google.cn website,” said the White House in a statement.

Google’s action comes four years after it attracted worldwide criticism for first agreeing to bow to Chinese censors in order to run a legal search service from inside the country. It promised in January to end the practice.

In spite of Google’s efforts to cast its talks with Chinese authorities in recent weeks as a negotiation over whether it could continue to operate an uncensored service from inside the country, it has been roundly rebuffed by Chinese officials.

As its move appeared more imminent in recent days officials have taken an increasingly outspoken line against the company, and official news outlets have accused Google of acting as an agent of the US government in trying to put pressure on China.

“The Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement,” Mr Drummond wrote.

Google's decision to play nice with the authorities as a condition of making some bucks in China was a huge PR problem for them (given their pretty-pony corporate image). While there was a mild fallout over their kow-towing in the West, the biggest turd in the bowl ended up being lack-luster market-share in China--below what many have anticipated based on how well they've done everywhere else.

Is Google pulling this kind of provocation as a stunt to save face after deciding to close shop in China based on cost/return, or are they doing it for the lulz?

I think it's both.

 

[DesiPower]

no but they can bow down and get in

 

[StageLeft]

This is purely a financial decision for Google. One way or the other their board thinks it will positively impact their bottom line. Any meaningful chipping of the wall will be ancillary and of little relevance to their decision. I know this because they had censored for years. And they started that when they were younger and smaller and in theory even closer to any kind of ideals about the spreading of information.

Google is the only search engine I use. It is to search engines what an index is to an otherwise index-less encylopedia. Can you freaking believe we used to have to use the likes of alta vista? Still, their Don't Be Evil slogan is bullsh*t and their behavior with China was all the proof one needs for such a conclusion.

 

[Moonbeam]

This is purely a financial decision for Google. One way or the other their board thinks it will positively impact their bottom line. Any meaningful chipping of the wall will be ancillary and of little relevance to their decision. I know this because they had censored for years. And they started that when they were younger and smaller and in theory even closer to any kind of ideals about the spreading of information.

Google is the only search engine I use. It is to search engines what an index is to an otherwise index-less encylopedia. Can you freaking believe we used to have to use the likes of alta vista? Still, their Don't Be Evil slogan is bullsh*t and their behavior with China was all the proof one needs for such a conclusion.

Oh Boy, sounds like you know something again.

 

[Patranus]

Google is a one hit wonder. As soon as the next best thing comes along they are toast. 99% of Googles revenue is made through advertisements (mostly existing contact from doubleclick) and have yet found a way to capitalize on all of these side projects.

Google is making a very bad decision and it is clearly not in the best interest of their share holders.

China has about 1/5 of the worlds population and over 400 million unique internet users. That is significantly larger than the internet user base in the United States.

China feels that Google is going back on its word it gave to the government when China allowed Google into the country in the first place. It will be next to impossible now to reenter the market at a later date. The Chinese government simply has no need for Google.

The USA is tapped out. China is where it is (going to be) at.

 

[Zebo]

Agree with Scoorb. I sopped using Google and went to subpar BING after Googles censorship policy. I'm sure others did as well.

I find the admins neutrality appalling considering our trade imbalance, MFN, and leverage that could bring to bear if leveraged diplomatically. Not to mention whole Dalai lama shunning incident but that's another thread.

 

[Thump553]

This is purely a financial decision for Google. One way or the other their board thinks it will positively impact their bottom line. Any meaningful chipping of the wall will be ancillary and of little relevance to their decision. I know this because they had censored for years. And they started that when they were younger and smaller and in theory even closer to any kind of ideals about the spreading of information.

Google is the only search engine I use. It is to search engines what an index is to an otherwise index-less encylopedia. Can you freaking believe we used to have to use the likes of alta vista? Still, their Don't Be Evil slogan is bullsh*t and their behavior with China was all the proof one needs for such a conclusion.

100% disagree. The obvious financial decision once they went into Red China was to do anything they could to stay there. This is a philisophical decision (along the lines of their Don't Be Evil slogan) to walk away from a huge gravy train, the largest growing internet market in the world by far. Short term at least Google's stock is going to take a big hit.

But I applaud Google for their principled stand and feverently hope this turns out to be a smart move for them in the long run.

 

[rudder]

In the end China will win. They will groom some engineer to get a job at google. They will get the blueprint for google's infrastructure and make their own google.

 

[StageLeft]

100% disagree. The obvious financial decision once they went into Red China was to do anything they could to stay there. This is a philisophical decision (along the lines of their Don't Be Evil slogan) to walk away from a huge gravy train, the largest growing internet market in the world by far. Short term at least Google's stock is going to take a big hit.

But I applaud Google for their principled stand and feverently hope this turns out to be a smart move for them in the long run.

Is this a joke? Are you having a piss?

They've been in China, censoring, for YEARS. They got a lot of bad PR at the time and did it anyway. And THEY have recently brought this topic back up, you really think they finally got a crisis of conscience? I doubt it. One analyst I heard said now they can pretend that they Don't Be Evil and some of their existing users will respect them more. A few years too late on this for me, however.

Apparently Yahoo is in China, censoring and all, by owning a controlling stake in a search engine there or something along those lines. This way they can pretend they are not but really they are. I'm not sure how Microsoft does it. ZeboI assume Bing is there and also censors.

In any case, they are publicly owned and legally compelled to maximize stockholder value. If stockholders could prove that this is causing obvious harm to the stock and not maximizing it they would probably sue. This is all about the benjamins.

 

[Thump553]

Given the nature of of litigious society, especially with class actions, I can guarantee that Google will be sued over this-and odds are such a suit has already been filed. Google is the only major player in China to pull out. They pulled out because (apparently) the Chinese government cheated and hacked into their servers.

Google made a deal with the devil and thought better of it once the devil showed its true nature.

Name one other major company that has done the same as Google.

Right now GOOG stock is going down and their major Chinese competitor, Baidu, is climbing.

This won't stop here. Red China controls Hong Kong and will cause the Chinese servers to be thrown out of Hong Kong in the near future.

I have not seen one single financial analysis of Google pulling out of China that comes to the conclusion that this will benefit Google. All I've seen conclude the exact opposite.

 

[StageLeft]

They pulled out because (apparently) the Chinese government cheated and hacked into their servers.

There is something to be said about that. I don't believe they pulled because they no longer wanted to censor, something they had no problem doing for years, but gov-blessed hacking into their servers is a no-no.

 

[Pepsei]

google.cn vs google.com before the change