Google China Launches
Google has launched the localised Chinese version of their web site, Google China, albeit not fully equipped with all features found at Google.com. Google has for a long time postponed going into China, because of the censorship restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, which Google has found incompatible with their values. Although Google.com is also censored when accessed from China, this censorship is exercised by the government and not Google themselves. Now, however, Google has followed in the footsteps of competitors Yahoo! and MSN, and launched a localised Chinese version with voluntary censorship.
Critics believe this decision conflicts with Google’s Do No Evil mantra. From a business perspective, however, the decision makes perfect sense: (1) Competitors are already in the Chinese market and more importantly (2) via the Chinese version Google now gets an inside, controlled approach to the censorship as opposed to the external censorship applied to Google.com. The latter will enable a better understanding for search and internet patterns of Chinese web users, but, in the long term, also offers the possibility of increasing bargaining power towards the Chinese government with regard to censorship.
Examples of censored searches include queries for the Tiananmen Square massacre and the—in China forbidden—Falun Gong movement.
Read more: Here Comes Google China, Google Joins Chinese Censor, and Google Makes Right China Decision.
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January 29th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
[...] Google Responds on China Launch I previously commented on Google’s China launch. Since then, Google has put a post up (Google in China) on their web site in response to all the negative press and blogging they have been subject to since the China launch: Google users in China today struggle with a service that, to be blunt, isn’t very good. Google.com appears to be down around 10% of the time. Even when users can reach it, the website is slow, and sometimes produces results that when clicked on, stall out the user’s browser. Our Google News service is never available; Google Images is accessible only half the time. At Google we work hard to create a great experience for our users, and the level of service we’ve been able to provide in China is not something we’re proud of. [...]