Google's dramatic martyrdom hides business realities
- Source: Global Times
- [23:20 January 17 2010]
- Comments
This is a strange thing to occur in what is called a civilized country.
It is difficult, yet crucially brave, to offer a different opinion when others chose to be silent or indifferent.
But sincere respect only comes after holding on to one's beliefs despite difficulties or persecution.
In 2006, Google launched a self-censored version of its search engine for the China market.
Explaining about the company's decision to go ahead with google.cn, a senior Google official said at the time, "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."
Another Google executive even wrote matter-of-factly that "We're in this for the long haul."
In only four years, Google's share of China's search engine market has risen dramatically to more than 30 percent.
It is still unable to catch up to its local rival baidu.com, which has almost 60 percent of the market share.
Google already has employed more than 700 people in China. But its Chinese operation's overall contribution to its global revenue is less than $350 million out of over $6 billion worldwide.
Meanwhile, Google has been subject to regulations by authorities, including a public reprimand last year criticizing the company for allowing pornography.
Recently, Google also got into trouble over the intellectual property rights when a Chinese writer chose to sue Google, instead of any other Chinese portals or search engines, for scanning her books.
All of the above, not to mention some of the things that the public did not know about Google's operations in China, would make any company to re-think its business decision. And it did, with a statement written in a blog by its legal advisor several days ago, indicating the possibility of withdrawing from China.
Yet it was a statement that totally portrayed the search engine giant as a defender of freedom of information.
By doing that, it might have put a gloss over the business reality. It might bring back some of its original glamor as the guardian of searching without limits. However, it might also have dramatically martyred itself, leaving it forever remembered but forever dead, at least in China.
That is sad for China's 384 million Internet users. With Google's withdrawal, they will have to rely on search engines with better relations with the government.
However, the rules of the market economy show clearly that it is not hard to have new competitors rising again.
Other alternatives to Google will emerge in only a short time.
It is not difficult for Chinese users to say "Google-bye" as long as they can have the World Wide Web.
Tian Wei is the host of "Dialogue" on CCTV's English Channel, and the main anchor of CCTV's special coverage of important domestic and international events. Previously, Tian worked in Washington D.C. as a correspondent, and covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
