Google's New China - Update

Twenty seven Chinese companies that have purchased ads on Google's search engine have banded together to demand answers from Google, stating that they placed pre-payments on keywords and that if Google were to shut down its Chinese business that it could have drastic effects. Google's business dealings in China account for roughly 1% of their revenue, but the company currently employs 700 people. The Chinese government also delayed the launch of the Android-operated phones from Samsung and Motorola solely due to their association with Google.

The large issue with Google pulling out of China is that people were depending on their services to be the helpful hand that would pull the nation out of a censorship-state. True, Google is not the largest search engine within the nation [holding a 35% market share], but the removal of the beacon of free speech in the east would represent the ability of the Chinese government to dictate, once and for all, what its citizens can and can not look at.

Some claim that Google sacrificed its moral standing when they entered China's market five years ago, initially complying with the nation's censorship demands. Google needs to tread softly in this time of trial, as their final decision is not simply a business one - it is morally and politically involved as well.

Google's New China

Google recently faced a cyber attack that originated from China that was attempting to steal intellectual property from the company. The attack was also aimed at many other corporations that are involved in many business categories such as web-based companies, finance, technology, media, and finally chemical sectors. The main goal of the attack was to access Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google's investigation claims that the attackers did not get any information other than the date the accounts were created and the subject lines of certain emails - no actual email content was seen. The attacks were not limited to Chinese Gmail consumers - dozens of U.S. and European-based users were threatened, all of which were supporters of the human rights movement that has been cropping up in China. Google states that accounts that were accessed were done so through phishing or malware attacks on user's computers.

The interesting bit of detail in this story is that it wasn't a user or a group of users who were seeking this information - it was a government. This shows that the Chinese government does not respect intellectual property and is willing to commit crimes in order to silence those who oppose them. With this said, Google is reconsidering its stance with China in filtering web searching and content.