Saving Face In Beijing

It’s just been announced that the altruistic search engine kings, Google, are to end the tempestuous relationship with Chinese censors by quitting the country altogether. This comes as quite a shock to many, as China is the world’s biggest internet market, and well, that’s where Sergey and Larry have made their money.

Some see this as face-saving exercise, as Google hasn’t managed to make proper inroads in the market, being beaten for the last several years by local engine Baidu. Others see the move as a middle finger raised to the source of the censorship that has plagued them since the beginning. Google issued a statement saying they had been hacked and that Gmail accounts held by certain ‘dissidents’ had also. In response to this, they made the bold move of dropping the censor filter they have in place for searches. Suddenly, the Chinese could access information on the Tiananmen Square massacre and a multitude of other banned information sites. Google’s chief legal officer then issued a statement saying they would be in discussion for the next several weeks with Chinese authorities to see if they could operate their site without censorship. Hmm, I don’t think that last move will endear them to the government. What do you reckon?

Nevertheless, such a move adds to the allure that Google is a modern, progressive company that although a massive money making operation, has scruples. Doubters will argue (and there is a legitimate argument) that this is just another American company trying to colonize the Far East but with little success. Regardless, it’s seems to be a case of Google cutting its losses AND saving face by citing censorship as the reason for the abrupt abortion. After all, one expert has said that they’ve only made $1bn in China in the last few years. It seems that’s simply not enough for Larry and Sergey to keep the doors open.