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Google drama splits users Source: Global Times [03:49 January 15 2010] Comments
A Chinese man, under the watchful eyes of a security guard, talks to the media after he places bouquets of flowers in front of the Google China office in Beijing Wednesday. Photo: AFP
By Guo Qiang
In the wake of Google threatening to pull out of China, the government said Thursday that it encourages international Internet companies to operate in China under Chinese laws.
Meanwhile, Internet users and analysts were split over whether a Google exit would be good or bad.
The government also maintained that it strongly opposes cyber crimes, as Google had accused it of not doing enough to fight such activity.
Google contended that laws aren't enough, and China needs to do more to ensure the security of international companies operating on the mainland.
"China's Internet is open, and China has tried to create a favorable environment for the Internet," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular press conference in response to a reporter's inquiry on Google's possible retreat.
Google threatened Tuesday to pull out of China and stop censoring content that the Chinese government deems inappropriate.
Google said it is negotiating with the Chinese government as it tries to find a solution to questions of security. It says hacker attacks originating from China have threatened Google's operations here.
Soon after Google said it might leave, a spokesman for Yahoo! Inc. said the company welcomed Google's decision to stop censoring search results.
Some Web users have also showed their support for Google, sending flowers to its Beijing offices and proclaiming that a major rival to China's Baidu engine is good for the country.
But others are saying it's no big deal if Google leaves, as a number of search options will remain.
The Beijing News reported Thursday that all domestic search-engine companies were holding emergency meetings to prepare to grab a bigger market share after Google's withdrawal.
Tang Jun, former CEO of Microsoft China, said an exit by Google would be stupid. "Giving up the Chinese market means you will lose half of the world in the future," he said.
J.P. Morgan estimated that Google will lose $600 million this year, and the impact will be even worse in the long-term.
Ma Yun, CEO of China's online business giant Alibaba, said leaving China is simple, but giving up will represent the biggest failure.
An anonymous official with Google China told the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express Thursday that he believes Google may stop its operations in China, but it won't say goodbye to China.
An anonymous Google employee was quoted by Xinhua as saying he is pessimistic about the negotiations between the government and the company.
"Both sides will take a harsh stance; no agreement will be possible," he said.
Whether Google's exit will benefit Chinese users is still hard to say.
Wang Sixin, professor of media law from the Communication University of China, told the Global Times that Google's exit will deliver a heavy blow to information communication in China and draw negative international public opinion on China, adding that it is good for the Chinese government to guide and filter the Internet.
The extensive launch of search engines by State media outlets comes against a backdrop of the Chinese government intensifying its campaign over "unhealthy" content online. Google was accused in June of providing links of pornographic pictures and websites
Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, said Thursday that the "majority" of **** was from websites with servers based in foreign countries.
Wang added that China is also a victim of cyber attacks. He noted that the number of overseas cyber attacks on Chinese mainland websites in 2008 had increased by 148 percent over the previous year.
Google's statement Tuesday said that a series of highly "sophisticated and targeted" attacks on Gmail accounts of Chinese activists originated from China in mid-December.
Bloomberg also reported Thursday that Yahoo! and Adobe Systems Inc were targeted by the same hackers.
Analysts are saying that Baidu's business could be given a boost, but only in the short run.
"Google's withdrawal will be a lose-lose situation for Google and China. Users will have fewer choices and a monopoly will result from the reduced quality players in the industry," said Yu Yang, the CEO of Analysys International.
Google's rivals such as Baidu may benefit from Google's exit in a short run, but eventually they will suffer from losing a big competitor that could urge them to improve their technologies and services, he added.
Shares of Baidu surged 13.7 percent to close at $439.48 while Google stock fell 0.6 percent to close at $587.09 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
The Chinese government is planning to sponsor major State media in an effort to create search engines to compete with international rivals such as Google and Microsoft's Bing.
The media groups include the Xinhua News Agency, CCTV and Party newspaper People's Daily.
Media insiders said Thursday that the State-run media magnets have submitted their plans to launch their own search engines, or improve their existing ones, amid the government's extensive overhaul of the Internet to rid it of **** and sensitive content, and to reduce Internet users' reliance on Google, despite Baidu holding a much larger share of the search-engine market.
A source close to the Chinese government told the Global Times that "The government supports Chinese portals to establish their own search engines, for fear that the monopoly by foreign search engines has already harmed the national interest and security of China."
Establishment of People's Daily's own search engine is already in the works, and it is likely to receive funding from the government, the source said.
Xinhua launched its search site, search.news.cn, on December 22, 2008. The site looks similar to the homepage of google.cn and also features a simple layout, including various search categories.
CCTV has recently been testing its beta version, though so far it can only search content within its own official website.
According to the iResearch Consulting Group, the Chinese search-engine market was valued at nearly 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) in 2009, and Google took 32.8 percent of the market in the third-quarter while Baidu claimed 63.8 percent.
Competition for the search-engine market share in a country boasting 360 million Internet users is clearly tense. Among those fighting to grab a bigger share are six major search engines, including smaller but fast-rising ones such as Tencent's Soso, Sohu's Sogou, Netease's Youdao and Microsoft's Bing.
A Chinese man, under the watchful eyes of a security guard, talks to the media after he places bouquets of flowers in front of the Google China office in Beijing Wednesday. Photo: AFP
By Guo Qiang
In the wake of Google threatening to pull out of China, the government said Thursday that it encourages international Internet companies to operate in China under Chinese laws.
Meanwhile, Internet users and analysts were split over whether a Google exit would be good or bad.
The government also maintained that it strongly opposes cyber crimes, as Google had accused it of not doing enough to fight such activity.
Google contended that laws aren't enough, and China needs to do more to ensure the security of international companies operating on the mainland.
"China's Internet is open, and China has tried to create a favorable environment for the Internet," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular press conference in response to a reporter's inquiry on Google's possible retreat.
Google threatened Tuesday to pull out of China and stop censoring content that the Chinese government deems inappropriate.
Google said it is negotiating with the Chinese government as it tries to find a solution to questions of security. It says hacker attacks originating from China have threatened Google's operations here.
Soon after Google said it might leave, a spokesman for Yahoo! Inc. said the company welcomed Google's decision to stop censoring search results.
Some Web users have also showed their support for Google, sending flowers to its Beijing offices and proclaiming that a major rival to China's Baidu engine is good for the country.
But others are saying it's no big deal if Google leaves, as a number of search options will remain.
The Beijing News reported Thursday that all domestic search-engine companies were holding emergency meetings to prepare to grab a bigger market share after Google's withdrawal.
Tang Jun, former CEO of Microsoft China, said an exit by Google would be stupid. "Giving up the Chinese market means you will lose half of the world in the future," he said.
J.P. Morgan estimated that Google will lose $600 million this year, and the impact will be even worse in the long-term.
Ma Yun, CEO of China's online business giant Alibaba, said leaving China is simple, but giving up will represent the biggest failure.
An anonymous official with Google China told the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express Thursday that he believes Google may stop its operations in China, but it won't say goodbye to China.
An anonymous Google employee was quoted by Xinhua as saying he is pessimistic about the negotiations between the government and the company.
"Both sides will take a harsh stance; no agreement will be possible," he said.
Whether Google's exit will benefit Chinese users is still hard to say.
Wang Sixin, professor of media law from the Communication University of China, told the Global Times that Google's exit will deliver a heavy blow to information communication in China and draw negative international public opinion on China, adding that it is good for the Chinese government to guide and filter the Internet.
The extensive launch of search engines by State media outlets comes against a backdrop of the Chinese government intensifying its campaign over "unhealthy" content online. Google was accused in June of providing links of pornographic pictures and websites
Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, said Thursday that the "majority" of **** was from websites with servers based in foreign countries.
Wang added that China is also a victim of cyber attacks. He noted that the number of overseas cyber attacks on Chinese mainland websites in 2008 had increased by 148 percent over the previous year.
Google's statement Tuesday said that a series of highly "sophisticated and targeted" attacks on Gmail accounts of Chinese activists originated from China in mid-December.
Bloomberg also reported Thursday that Yahoo! and Adobe Systems Inc were targeted by the same hackers.
Analysts are saying that Baidu's business could be given a boost, but only in the short run.
"Google's withdrawal will be a lose-lose situation for Google and China. Users will have fewer choices and a monopoly will result from the reduced quality players in the industry," said Yu Yang, the CEO of Analysys International.
Google's rivals such as Baidu may benefit from Google's exit in a short run, but eventually they will suffer from losing a big competitor that could urge them to improve their technologies and services, he added.
Shares of Baidu surged 13.7 percent to close at $439.48 while Google stock fell 0.6 percent to close at $587.09 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
The Chinese government is planning to sponsor major State media in an effort to create search engines to compete with international rivals such as Google and Microsoft's Bing.
The media groups include the Xinhua News Agency, CCTV and Party newspaper People's Daily.
Media insiders said Thursday that the State-run media magnets have submitted their plans to launch their own search engines, or improve their existing ones, amid the government's extensive overhaul of the Internet to rid it of **** and sensitive content, and to reduce Internet users' reliance on Google, despite Baidu holding a much larger share of the search-engine market.
A source close to the Chinese government told the Global Times that "The government supports Chinese portals to establish their own search engines, for fear that the monopoly by foreign search engines has already harmed the national interest and security of China."
Establishment of People's Daily's own search engine is already in the works, and it is likely to receive funding from the government, the source said.
Xinhua launched its search site, search.news.cn, on December 22, 2008. The site looks similar to the homepage of google.cn and also features a simple layout, including various search categories.
CCTV has recently been testing its beta version, though so far it can only search content within its own official website.
According to the iResearch Consulting Group, the Chinese search-engine market was valued at nearly 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) in 2009, and Google took 32.8 percent of the market in the third-quarter while Baidu claimed 63.8 percent.
Competition for the search-engine market share in a country boasting 360 million Internet users is clearly tense. Among those fighting to grab a bigger share are six major search engines, including smaller but fast-rising ones such as Tencent's Soso, Sohu's Sogou, Netease's Youdao and Microsoft's Bing.