Google China

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Coordinates: 39°59′34″N, 116°19′24″E

The Google China logo

Google China (谷歌, pinyin: gǔ gē, lit. "valley song" or "crop song") is the Chinese subsidiary of Google, Inc., currently the world's largest Internet search engine company.

History

Google China was founded in 2005 and is headed by Kai-Fu Lee, formerly a Microsoft executive and the founder in 1998 of Microsoft Research Asia. Microsoft sued Google and Kai-Fu Lee for the move but reached a confidential settlement^[1]. The office was initially located at NCL Tower, later moved to Tsinghua Science Park in early 2006. The new office was being used since September 2006, also located in Tsinghua Science Park, near the south gate of Tsinghua University.

Business

Google China serves a market of Chinese Internet users that was estimated in February, 2006 to include over 100 million people.^[2] This estimate is up from 45.8 million in 2002, according to a survey report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released on June 30, 2002.^[3] A CNNIC report published a year and a half earlier, on January 17, 2001, estimated that the mainland Chinese Internet user base numbered 22.5 million people; this was considerably higher than the number published by Iamasia, a private Internet ratings company.^[4] The first CNNIC report, published on October 10, 1997, estimated the number of Chinese internet users at fewer than 650 thousand people.

The competitors of Google China include Baidu.com, often called the "Google of China" due to its resemblance and similarity to Google.

Controversy

Main article: Internet censorship in mainland China

Since announcing its intent to comply with Internet censorship laws in the People's Republic of China, Google China has been the focus of controversy over what critics view as capitulation to the "Great Firewall of China".

Google has argued that it can play a role more useful to the cause of free speech by participating in China's IT industry than by refusing to comply and being denied admission to the Chinese market. "While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission," a statement said.^[5]

A PBS analysis reported clear differences between results returned for controversial keywords by the censored and uncensored search engines^[6]. According to New York Times, Google has set up computer systems inside China that try to access Web sites outside the country. If a site is inaccessible (e.g., due to the Great Firewall), then it is added to Google China's blacklist.^[7]

Critics of the Chinese government have dubbed this version of Google the "eunuch edition." Google critics in the United States claim that Google China is a flagrant violation of the Google motto, "Don't Be Evil".

References