Google has gone
bodawei
March 22, 2010, 11:27 PM posted in General DiscussionGoogle may exit China on April 10: report
March 19, 2010 - 3:57PM
Google may pull out of China on April 10, China Business News reported today, citing an unidentified Chinese sales agent for the company.
The search engine may announce its exit on March 22, the Shanghai-based newspaper reported, citing an unidentified Google China employee. It may also reveal plans for its China staff on the same day, according to the report.
Google hasn't confirmed the April 10 date for its pullout, the newspaper cited the sales agent as saying. Tokyo-based spokeswoman for the company, Jessica Powell, declined to comment on the report.
Google challenged the government of the world's most- populous country in January by threatening to allow all search results to be shown on its Chinese-language Web, including references to Tibet and the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The two sides have since been in talks to resolve the issue.
The Mountain View, California-based company said it decided to stop censoring content after discovering its computers had been hacked from within China. Google said its systems had been targeted by highly sophisticated attacks aimed at obtaining proprietary information, as well as personal data belonging to Chinese human rights activists who use the company's Gmail e- mail service.
The attacks Google reported employed skills that were ``much greater than most enterprises are equipped to deal with,'' according to security research firm ISEC Partners Inc. At least 20 other international companies in technology, finance and chemicals were similarly targeted, Google said at the time.
Speculation
Speculation that negotiations had faltered intensified after the government said last week the plan to stop filtering at its Google.cn site was irresponsible. Some of Google's advertisers in China have been advised to switch to rivals including Baidu Inc.
China censors online content it deems critical of the government by shutting down Web sites based in the nation and blocking access to overseas sites including those of Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google's YouTube. Authorities also censor media through state ownership of all newspapers, television and radio stations.
The Chinese service started by Google in 2006 limits search results to comply with government restrictions, such as blocking access to sites that discuss Taiwan or Tibetan independence, the outlawed Falun Gong and the Tiananmen Square military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
The prospect of a Google pullout sent ripples through the market, with Baidu's shares climbing 46 per cent since the Jan. 12 announcement. Google has lost 4.1 per cent in the same period.
China sales
Google earned sales of 2.27 billion yuan ($360 million), from China in 2009, according to Analysys International
China has 384 million Internet users, according to government data. That's more than the total US population, and EMarketer Inc. in New York said the number may grow to 840 million, or 61 percent of the population, by 2013.
Baidu, China's biggest Internet search engine, will pick up ``the lion's share'' of Google's search business should the US company leave, Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Jin Yoon wrote in a Jan. 13 report. Tencent Holdings Ltd., operator of China's biggest online chat service, and Sohu.com Inc. also will gain, Yoon said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Jan. 21 that US technology companies should resist censorship of the Internet, and the perpetrators of cyber attacks such as those against Google must face the consequences.
China said it opposed Clinton's comments, which caused damage to Sino-US relations, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Jan. 22. The Chinese government has said it doesn't engage in cyber attacks and is itself a victim of breaches of Internet security.
bababardwan
Is gmail currently still working in China?
xiaophil
Yes, it is.
bodawei
March 23, 2010, 01:48 PMYes, it is all really curious isn't it? I'm thinking:
1. People in China are not affected, so far (we still have exactly the same sites unavailable to us, whether we use google.com or google.hk.com) - so no one here is greatly offended. Google users who are potentially inconvenienced (including a lot of native Chinese in Government, universities, research bodies etc.) are so far in exactly the same position as they were before.
2. Google.cn loses advertising revenue but they were in any case losing out to the leader by a large margin, and they have retained two of their businesses here anyway, presumably the two that were more successful. They have not yet lost their footprint here - they are still inside a rapidly growing market.
3. They have definitely won some of their credibility back in the West amongst those who believe that China is an evil regime etc. This is bound to be good for business outside China - perhaps they calculated that they would win more outside China than lose inside China.
4. Maybe they have plans elsewhere that don't include China - their resources are not inexhaustible and finance is significantly more costly now than it was just two or three years ago (because of the global financial crisis.)
5. Doing business in China is costly - a lot of foreign companies pour money into a black hole here. It is a long term investment that requires a lot of expert and specialized input. Lots of money on professional services, consultants etc.
changye
March 19, 2010, 08:08 AMI believe the CCP will block Google (Chinese), but not other Googles, because China needs them.
sydcarten
March 19, 2010, 11:49 AM//The Chinese government has said it doesn't engage in cyber attacks//
of course not, PERISH the thought!
So, the PRC needs Google, but can't get it on the terms they want. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out in the long run.
henning
March 19, 2010, 02:03 PMI wonder, maybe Google owns information the rest of the world doesn't have yet?
After all, they are the masters of data management and data analysis. They most definately have tools to evaluate the future economical, social, and political direction of a market. Who knows, Google's behaviour might be read a warning sign by the rest of the world?
kimiik
March 19, 2010, 02:43 PMAs April 9 is the Holy Friday of Christians, leaving China on April 10 (Great Saturday) could have a DEEP meaning : Resurrection is coming ! ;o)
go_manly
March 20, 2010, 12:45 AMBut Good Friday is April 2.
xiao_liang
March 20, 2010, 11:48 AMWasn't necessarily the government behind the attacks, mind you...
http://lastwatchdog.com/googles-china-threat-ignite-cyber-cold-war/
bababardwan
March 19, 2010, 07:37 AMIs gmail currently still working in China?
changye
March 22, 2010, 05:27 AMIf Baidu (百度) did the same thing as Google, a lot of Chinese people would support it. Unfortunately, Google is not a Chinese company. So, after all, it's a matter of nationalism, as is often the case in the PRC.
kimiik
March 22, 2010, 09:23 AMYesterday, I've heard about 破釜沉舟 (pòfǔchénzhōu - Burnt bridges) and the strange concept of HF+8 (Holy Friday plus 8 days).
bodawei
March 22, 2010, 11:30 PM'Google ends web censorship for China'
Well, they've 'gone', and I am still trying to establish what 'gone' means. google.com or google.cn now takes you to the HK site. For the Chinese customer who previously used Google.com there is no change so far. If you live in China your searches are still screened whether you are using a site in China, HK or the US. My ability to search for information is the same as it was before, as far as I can see. The business difference presumably is the absence of a cn site for advertising.
changye
I love Hong Kong.....
changye
March 23, 2010, 12:04 AMI love Hong Kong.....
bodawei
March 23, 2010, 10:37 AM‘internet censorship agenda slammed by tech giants'
Australia's biggest technology companies, communications academics and many lobby groups have delivered a withering critique of the government's plans to censor the internet.
ASHER MOSES,March 23, 2010 - 4:38PM
Which government are we talking about here? The Chinese Government? Um, sadly no. This is today's story about the Australian Government's plan to do a Great Fire Wall.
xiaophil
March 23, 2010, 12:48 PMActually, even though I support Google's decision, I am puzzled by it. I have heard that some experts believe that the cyber attacks were probably done by amateurs, not the Chinese government. I suppose perhaps Google doesn't buy it. At any rate, I'm not used to corporations throwing business away so easily, so I can't help wonder if there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than what we are aware of.
bodawei
Yes, it is all really curious isn't it? I'm thinking:
1. People in China are not affected, so far (we still have exactly the same sites unavailable to us, whether we use google.com or google.hk.com) - so no one here is greatly offended. Google users who are potentially inconvenienced (including a lot of native Chinese in Government, universities, research bodies etc.) are so far in exactly the same position as they were before.
2. Google.cn loses advertising revenue but they were in any case losing out to the leader by a large margin, and they have retained two of their businesses here anyway, presumably the two that were more successful. They have not yet lost their footprint here - they are still inside a rapidly growing market.
3. They have definitely won some of their credibility back in the West amongst those who believe that China is an evil regime etc. This is bound to be good for business outside China - perhaps they calculated that they would win more outside China than lose inside China.
4. Maybe they have plans elsewhere that don't include China - their resources are not inexhaustible and finance is significantly more costly now than it was just two or three years ago (because of the global financial crisis.)
5. Doing business in China is costly - a lot of foreign companies pour money into a black hole here. It is a long term investment that requires a lot of expert and specialized input. Lots of money on professional services, consultants etc.
tiaopidepi
March 22, 2010, 05:21 AMGoogle got the marketing karma in the West. That's all they needed. There's no reason to actually pull out of China. They just needed the soapbox from which to shout their "holier than thou" advertisement.
xiaophil
March 19, 2010, 06:50 AMI saw a headline yesterday:
China to Google: Toe the Line
I'm glad Google is not just simply caving in.
That said, I hope gmail continues to work.