According to the articles that I have read it seams that Google has stated that they will stop self censoring their search results in China.
I am quite confused as to why they would declare that in a country that is notorious for its great fire wall. I feel that as a foreign enterprise you HAVE to abide by the local laws and policies if you are going to succeed internationally.
Google is over the line and fighting a losing battle in my opinion. They are already losing the search battle to baidu and leaving the fastest growing most promising country does not make sense.
The only good reason I can think of for them to do this is to use the situation as a marketing tactic to get more visibility with the Chinese searchers.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
True. Google will abandon quite some Benjamins on the way out… But IMHO I think it’s a huge statement: Google doesn’t agree with the Chinese government and will take a great financial loss to make that statement as clear as possible. Doesn’t that make you feel good (not even a tiny bit)? It’s not about the money. It’s about the people. It makes me wanna paint a peace sign on my chest, wear long flowing flower dresses, not worry about wearing a bra, enjoy some MaryJ and kiss strangers… But that’s maybe just me
Why is it possible that the “Google China” conflict escalates into a cyberwar?