Google considering withdraw from China
Google said that it may consider shutting down its operations in China, that mean Google.cn may be nearing the end of its life. the news from the company’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, said on Google’s official blog.
Issued a document, it will be talking with the Chinese government in coming weeks about how it might operate in China without censorship, long a thorn in the side of Western Web concerns operating there. ‘We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results’ on its China Web site, Google.cn,’, Google will consider closing Google.cn, or even all of its China office.
IF Google to withdraw from China would be an extremely rare repudiation by a Western company of what is almost universally seen in big business as one of the world’s most important markets. Even the public suggestion that it is considering such a move is likely to infuriate Chinese authorities.
Tensions between Google and the Chinese government began soon, escalating in 2009 when Chinese officials reprimanded Google and accused it of having pornography on its sites; several Google services were temporarily inaccessible in China. Google’s video-sharing site, YouTube, has also been inaccessible within China for the past number of months, and has been periodically banned in the past.
Google has struggled to gain search-market share in China, against local Chinese company Baidu Inc., which leads the market. Google’s share of China’s search market by revenue has been growing and stood at 29% in the second quarter of 2009, according to research firm Analysys International.
Google’s main Chinese competitors, especially Baidu, are seen as far more ready to comply with government-censorship rules, and have avoided the periodic blocking and official criticism that Google has experienced.
It remains to be seen whether or not Google will take such actions, but according to analysts, it could be possible.
Up until this point, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others, have all complied with China’s demands. Censorship is a very hot topic for China, and while many companies and groups have spoken out against China’s restrictions on its users, government officials remain firm that censoring is the best course of action for its people.
