Why Google Is Quitting China

tharikiran

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Guess, all those who talked about Google chickening out because of competition have been proved wrong.
It hasn't left the Chinese market, it has only redirected the acess from it's Hong Kong servers.Nice move.

The ball's in China's court.Let's see what they do.
This is geting interesting.
 

badguy2000

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I want to remind u all
Bing - of course u know its origin
Baidu - is NOT a Chinese company though its affiliate for search engine is based in Beijing. Baidu is registered in British Virgin Islands (correct me if wrong), listed in Nasdaq. Founders and main shareholders are American!

So, no major Chinese 'home grown' search engine active in the marketplace for now! (Sogou... etc. is nothing)

Somehow I'm pro-Google in this pull-out soap opera....... becoz I'm sitting alongside cyber freedom for netizens!
the core tech of Baidu are controled by Chinese in mainland China . that is enough.

from the beginning .the open of google.cn is a mistake.

most of CHinese goole.com-users can read english and would rather directly use google.com.instead of google.cn
 

tarunraju

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Google Dumps China.

Google redirects Chinese site to Hong Kong

Google has moved its Chinese-language search engine site to Hong Kong and stopped censoring its Chinese search results, the company announced on Monday.

The move came after the web search giant announced on January 12 that it would stop censoring its Chinese search results after discovering a cyber attack that originated in China and which was aimed at compromising Chinese human rights activists.

"Earlier today we stopped censoring our search services - Google Search, Google News, and Google Images on Google.cn," the company said on its official Google blog. "Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong."

The company said it would continue to conduct research and development work in China and also continue to operate its advertising sales teams in the country.

"Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard," Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said. "We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement."

"We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced, it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision."

Google added that it will create a new web page that will track which Google services are available in China, and which are being blocked by the Chinese government.

Source
 

nimo_cn

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Google Dumps China
Google Dumps China?
Come on, when does HK become a independent country? Google.cn is still accessible in China, Google still operates business in China.

The company said it would continue to conduct research and development work in China and also continue to operate its advertising sales teams in the country.
If that is Google's pullout of China, then i have to say i am very disappointed, i was expecting a more radical pullout. But my complaint will not change Google's greed for Chinese market.
 

tharikiran

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"Google's greed for Chinese market".

Do you think Google is in China or India to do charity.For that matter any company including that "Baidu ?? "

Hong Kong is a part of China. But China had promised, it will respect the independence it has enjoyed .

Smart move by Google.It's a smack on the faces of all the theorists talking about Google being afraid of competetion.

What do you mean when you say,"If that is Google's pullout of China, then i have to say i am very disappointed".

You expect Google to do a complete pullout from the worlds largest online market ??
You gotta be kidding me.Even if they are second that's a sginificant share.
 

tharikiran

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No one considers HK as part of China. Two different worlds...
I was referring in official terms.I am not aware of ground realities after reunification.
Our Chinese brothers should be able to enlighten us.I am afraid we are going out of topic .
 

Sridhar

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Is Google greater than God?
Updated on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 12:12 IST

Stanly Johny

It is difficult for 81 million web-browsing Indians even to imagine a life without Google. Indians, like billions of other web users around the world, are so addicted to Google that it is actually difficult for them to replace the search engine giant in their online expeditions. If John Lennon, who unleashed an uproar by saying, “Beatles are more popular than Jesus”, was alive today, he would have sung ‘Google is Greater than God’. But for the godless Chinese, Google is just a search engine.

Now it’s almost certain that the US Internet giant will shut its Chinese search engine, Google.cn. Though the company has not confirmed its pullout from the world’s largest Internet market, China’s state-controlled official media have reported that it will happen in April. Whether Google will shut its entire China operations or just pull the plug on Google.cn and let its other operations continue is not yet clear. The search engine is expected to unveil its plans on March 22.


The crisis started two months back when Google threatened to pull out of China, a market of around 400 million web users, accusing Chinese hackers backed by the government of attacking its email system. The US internet giant, which launched Google.cn to provide censored search services for Chinese users in 2006 said it detected “highly sophisticated” attack on its email services originating from China. These attacks and the Chinese government’s attempts to “limit freedom of speech on Internet” led Google to adopt a “new approach” to the Dragon, the company’s chief legal officer David Drummond wrote on his blog on January 12.

China rejected the allegations, but defended its censoring, saying Google has to obey the rules of the land. The US soon seized the opportunity to score against its global rival and asked Google to refuse “politically motivated” censoring. Rights groups around the world once again deplored the “Great Firewall of China”. Well, what will happen if Google pulls out?

Lose-lose scenario

According to analysts, it would be a lose-lose scenario. "If Google leaves, it's a lose-lose scenario, instead of Google loses and others gain," Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, a Beijing research firm, told Associated Press. China sans Google will stand increasingly isolated in a rapidly expanding web world. Popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and Google’s Youtube are already banned in China. It’s still unclear how China’s educated, outward looking middle class youth would respond to the disappearance of the “all-loving” Google in their web space.

Google’s withdrawal will also hit the Chinese mobile market, which is highly dependent on the search engine. China Mobile Ltd, the world’s largest telecom service provider with 527 million subscribers, uses Google for mobile search and maps. Google’s android operating system is also popular among mobile phone users in China.

So what will China do? Despite this expected setback, the Chinese authorities appear to be defiant in dealing with Google. The reason, many think, is the (over)confidence that the local search engine, Baidu, would be able to rise up to the occasion if Google leaves. China has developed domestic equivalents of all the major popular internet companies -- Baidu for Google, Taobao for eBay, Renren for Facebook, QQ for instant messaging, games and social networking. The Economist magazine, a severe critic of China’s web censoring policies, admits these companies “are doing well”.

On the other hand, the end of operations in China will lead to a sharp fall in Google’s net revenue. Therefore, according to reports, Google will likely shut only its Chinese search portal and continue other services, leaving some options on the table for a possible future reconciliation. Apart from its search and mobile phone applications, the US firm has two research and development facilities in China and is running a popular music portal.

The Chinese government’s tough stand vis-à-vis Google is also a strong message to other companies operating in the country. If the Communist Party-led government is not ready for an inch of compromise on “sensitive issues” like censoring with a giant like Google, other companies will be thrown out of the mainland even without a negotiation if they avoid Beijing’s diktats. Most of them are more interested in the vast potential of Chinese market than the so-called liberal principles. Google was also not different till January 12, 2010.

Will China survive the departure of Google, the God of the Web World? Well, that could be the most interesting question of coming years.

http://www.zeenews.com/zeeexclusive/2010-03-23/612807news.html
 

amoy

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Do you think Google is in China or India to do charity.For that matter any company including that "Baidu ?? "

Hong Kong is a part of China. But China had promised, it will respect the independence it has enjoyed .

Smart move by Google.
ya, a smart move exactly. Google in fact can still do biz with mainland from HK and honor existing contracts. HK as a SAR (special admin. region) enjoys high autonomy except national defence and diplomacy and other issues related to sovereignty.

No one considers HK as part of China. Two different worlds...
Guess u really need to get updated. With rapid development of mainland in fact HK is somehow lagging behind. I've been HK for a few times. u should go to see for yourself. its neighbor Shenzhen is (more or equally) modern with high living standard although Hk maintains its status of financial/logistics centre. Shanghai in many ways has overtaken HK.

HK used to have a unique position as gateway when China was blocked...... but after opening up + reform HK's edge is more or less being eroded off and the gap has been leveled up. China intentionally supports HK for its 'special' role - that's why Google can make a leeway there.
 

Sridhar

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March 23, 2010
China warns US not to 'politicise' Google row

Google had said two months ago that it would quit the mainland market if it were required to continue to submit to censorship after cyberattacks originating in China.
In January, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, provoked fierce criticism in China when she said that the attack on Google would have “consequences” and compared its censorship of the internet to the Berlin Wall. China responded by branding her remarks as “information imperialism”.
China's Government also issued a similar warning to Australia over the arrest of four Rio Tinto executives accused of bribery and industrial espionage, stating that the row should not be politicised. The four men are currently on trial in Shanghai and yesterday admitted accepting bribes when engaged in talks with China over iron ore prices. They are disputing the amount that they are alleged to have taken.
Users in China noticed small differences after Google effectively closed its China-hosted google.cn search engine in the early hours of this morning.
People are automatically redirected to the Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong, where Google is not legally required to censor searches.
Those landing on the Hong Kong page were greeted with the words “Welcome to Google Search in China’s new home”.
The site offered search results in the simplified Chinese characters used in mainland China, as well as the traditional characters favoured in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
The responsibility for censoring is shifted from Google’s China operation — contractually obliged to do so — to the Chinese authorities.
Reaction among Chinese internet users was muted, with most simply noting that Google had left.
However, one well-known Internet commentator, Lanpi, said: “The difference between google.cn and google.com.hk is like the distance between China and the world.”
He added that there was no doubt that Google’s departure was linked to politics. “So, Google’s departure from China will become a milestone, a scar, or a mark that can never be erased. It will tell later generations in what kind of environment we once lived.”
A few passers-by laid flowers or chocolates on a large metal “Google” sign outside the company's office in Beijing.
A large gathering of some of Google's 600 staff was held in a first-floor cafeteria. A Google spokeswoman, Jessica Powell, said that the meeting was called to update staff about the situation, but she declined to give details.
Many Google services — not hosted in China — remained as accessible as before, including google.cn’s map service and a free, advertising-supported music portal that is hugely popular.
The “Great Firewall of China” was as efficient as ever, as The Times established when logging onto the search engine from Beijing. In a search for sensitive topics, such as “Dalai Lama” and “Tiananmen Square Massacre”, a message flashed up saying that the page could not be displayed. The computer then froze.
The State Council Information Office issued a statement as soon as Google announced its departure, railing at the decision. “Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks,” it said.
It added: “This is totally wrong. We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicisation of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts.”
However, it was not clear whether China will take any further action to limit access to Google’s search engines hosted outside the mainland.





http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article7072211.ece

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Sridhar

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China condemns decision by Google to lift censorship


Chinese users are being redirected to the google.com.hk site

China has said Google's decision to stop censoring Chinese search results is "totally wrong" and violates its promise to abide by local laws.
The US giant is redirecting users in mainland China to its unrestricted Hong Kong site, although Chinese firewalls mean results still come back censored.
Beijing said the decision should not affect ties with Washington.
Google threatened to leave the Chinese market completely this year after cyber attacks traced back to China.
Chinese internet users will have no regrets if Google withdraws



Chen Yafei
Chinese information technology specialist

Google's move to shut its mainland Chinese search service is a major blow to China's international image, the BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from Beijing.
It means one of the world's most prominent corporations is saying it is no longer willing to co-operate in China's censorship of the internet, our correspondent says.
China has moved to further limit free speech on the web - Google's own websites and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists have recently come under cyber attack.
'Politicisation of commercial issues'
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters that Google's move was an isolated act by a commercial company and should not affect China-US ties "unless politicised" by others.
GOOGLE IN CHINA

2000: A Chinese-language interface is developed for the google.com website
2006: Launch of China-based google.cn search page with censored results
Mar-Jun 2009: China blocks access to Google's YouTube site; access to other Google online services is denied to users
Jan 2010: Jan 2010 Google announces it is no longer willing to censor searches in China and may pull out of the country
Feb 2010: Hacking attacks on Google are traced to mainland China
March 2010: Google says it will re-route searches to its Hong Kong-based site



Timeline: China and net censorship

The government would handle the Google case "according to the law", he added.
Earlier an official in the Chinese government office which oversees the internet said: "Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks."
"This is totally wrong. We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicisation of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts," the unnamed official was quoted as saying by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Chen Yafei, a Chinese information technology specialist, told Reuters that Google should have accepted Chinese regulation if it wanted to operate in the country.
"Any company entering China should abide by Chinese laws," he said.
"Google has its own credos. The fighting between Google and the Chinese government is their own business. Chinese internet users will have no regrets if Google withdraws."
Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, said earlier that providing uncensored searches through the Hong Kong-based google.com.hk website was was "entirely legal" and would "meaningfully increase access to information for people in China".
"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," he wrote in a blog post.
The White House said it was "disappointed" that Google and China had not been able to resolve their differences.
Sophisticated censorship
One cause of the row was Google's revelation on 12 January that it - and more than 20 other companies - had been the victim of a cyber attack that originated inside China.
Baidu is the market leader for online search in China

During the attack Google lost some intellectual property and discovered that the attack was aimed at the GMail accounts of human rights activists. This attack led Google to "review the feasibility" of its Chinese operations.
In the blog entry posted on 22 March, Google said it would maintain an R&D and sales presence in China.
It said the size of its sales team would depend on how many Chinese people can get at the Hong Kong-based site. Currently about 700 of Google's 20,000 strong workforce are based in China.
On Sunday, state media in China attacked Google for what they described as the company's "intricate ties" with the US government.
Google provided US intelligence agencies with a record of its search engine results, Xinhua said.
While Google is the world's most popular search engine, it is a distant number two in the Chinese market, which is dominated by Baidu.
However, because of the size and growth rate of China's internet population, any loss of business there is likely to harm Google's future growth prospects.
Analysts said that initially Google's prospects would not be dented by shutting down Google.cn as it is responsible, at most, for 2% of its annual $24bn (£15.9bn) revenue.
China operates one of the most sophisticated and wide-reaching censorship systems in the world.
Thousands of police officers are employed to monitor web activity and many automated systems watch blogs, chat rooms and other sites to ensure that banned subjects, such as Tiananmen Square, are not discussed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8582233.stm
 

ajtr

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seems like now Dell too quitting china?

Dell Leaving China In Search Of "Safer Environments" In India

Dell's said to be joining Google in fleeing China in search of a "safer environment with [a] climate conducive to enterprise," potentially taking the $25 billion it spends on equipment and parts in China to India.

The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was quoted in the Hindustan Times as saying he'd just met with Dell's chairman, who would like to move all of their set-up to a country "with security of legal system." They've currently got one factory in India already.

Chairman Michael Dell has previously stated that the "Indian operations are doing well...India is a great place to be in. It is growing faster than China for us." [Hindustan Times via Silicon India via Engadget]
 

Armand2REP

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There is a post floating around Twitter getting alot of attention in China... translated;

Dear passengers of Train Harmonious, one of the passengers called Google has been kicked off the train because he didn’t obey the rules. Now please pull down the curtain and you are not allowed to watch the scenery outside. Our next stop: Pyongyang.
 

Vinod2070

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They have not banned twitter so far!
 

nimo_cn

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Oh, come on, does that represent the opinions of most Chinese netizens?

Is that a big deal that some pro-Google netizens whine about Google's pullout of China?

Do you know how many Chinese netizens criticised Google for his hypocrisy and arrogance and hoped Google get out of China as soon as possible?
According to the survey, 70% Chinese netizens supported the authority's stance on this issue, not because they uphold the censorship system. just because they dont want to be intimidated by a western company.
 

Armand2REP

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China's instructions on reporting on Google

All chief editors and managers:

Google has officially announced its withdrawal from the China market. This is a high-impact incident. It has triggered netizens' discussions which are not limited to a commercial level. Therefore please pay strict attention to the following content requirements during this period:

A. News section:

1. Only use Central Government main media (website) content; do not use content from other sources.

2. Reposting must not change title.

3. News recommendations should refer to Central government main media websites.


4. Do not produce relevant topic pages; do not set discussion sessions; do not conduct related investigative reporting.

5. Online programs with experts and scholars on this matter must apply for permission ahead of time. This type of self-initiated program production is strictly forbidden.

6. Carefully manage the commentary posts under news items.

B. Forums, blogs and other interactive media sections:

1. It is not permitted to hold discussions or investigations on the Google topic.

2. Interactive sections do not recommend this topic, do not place this topic and related comments at the top.

3. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which attack the Party, State, government agencies, Internet policies with the excuse of this event.

4. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which support Google, dedicate flowers to Google, ask Google to stay, cheer for Google and others have a different tune from government policy.

5. On topics related to Google, carefully manage the information in exchanges, comments and other interactive sessions.

6. Chief managers in different regions please assign specific manpower to monitor Google-related information; if there is information about mass incidents, please report it in a timely manner.

We ask the Monitoring and Control Group to immediately follow up monitoring and control actions along the above directions; once any problems are discovered, please communicate with respected sessions in a timely manner.

Addition[al] guidelines:

-- Do not participate in and report Google's information/press releases.

-- Do not report about Google exerting pressure on our country via people or events.

-- Related reports need to put [our story/perspective/information] in the center, do not provide materials for Google to attack relevant policies of our country.

-- Use talking points about Google withdrawing from China published by relevant departments.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032402511.html
 
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tharikiran

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^^ Man I can't believe it. Is this real ? These guys are crazy.
The polls. It's not about western company.It's all about being patriotic.

One after the other companies will start leaving. They can do all the polling they want and blame the companies.
 

nimo_cn

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Google will not censor.

If china is OK with that Google will stay.

Otherwise the Chinese government will have make it illegal for Google o operate in China Uncensored. Forcing Google to Leave
Money is the bottom line, Google sees the writing on the wall for China. With 400 million internet users it has amongst the lowest advertising revenue per user on earth. Once the stimulus runs out, it will drop since half of it comes from that source. One must give credit to Google foreseeing the fall of Chinese bubbles and actually preparing to take measures to protect themselves. Critics of Google say they have some gual to withdraw from the largest market in the world, but it really isn't that large. Consumer spending in China is so low the little population of France spends more than all 1.3 billion Chinese.
Guess, all those who talked about Google chickening out because of competition have been proved wrong.
It hasn't left the Chinese market, it has only redirected the acess from it's Hong Kong servers.Nice move.

The ball's in China's court.Let's see what they do.
This is geting interesting.
^^ Man I can't believe it. Is this real ? These guys are crazy.
The polls. It's not about western company.It's all about being patriotic.

One after the other companies will start leaving. They can do all the polling they want and blame the companies.
it's fascinating to review this old thread, going through all the comments, I am wondering if people who posted here are still with us. if you are, what is your comment on the following news?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...h-censored-search-engine-app-china/878594002/

SAN FRANCISCO - Google may launch a censored version of its search engine in China in a move that would largely reverse its 2010 decision to withdraw from the country, The Intercept reported.
 

Compersion

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What’s google android the phone operating system ? In hands of few ? Hmmmmm
 

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