Google China

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File:Google logo cn.gif

The Google China logo

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

History

Google China headquarters in Tsinghua Science Park, Beijing

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. The office was initially located at NCL Tower and later moved to Tsinghua Science Park in early 2006. The newest office has been in use since September 2006, and is also located in Tsinghua Science Park, near the south gate of Tsinghua University. The rooms in the office are named after things found in traditional Chinese culture, for example the rooms on the second floor are named after Chinese musical notes (宮商角徵羽), while rooms on the third floor are named after celestial objects.

Business

Google China serves a market of Chinese Internet users that was estimated in February, 2006 to include over 100 million people. 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. 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. 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 the People's Republic of China

Prior to Google China's establishment, Google.com itself was accessible, even though it was not reliable. According to official statistics, it was accessible 90% of the time, and a number of services were not available at all.

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 "Golden Shield Project" (also known as the Great Firewall of China). Because of its self-imposed censorship, whenever people search for interdicted Chinese keywords on a blocked list maintained by the PRC government, google.cn will display the following at the bottom of the page (translated): In accordance with local laws, regulations and policies, part of the search result is not shown.

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.

A PBS analysis reported clear differences between results returned for controversial keywords by the censored and uncensored search engines. According to The 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 Golden Shield Project), then it is added to Google China's blacklist.

In Feburary 2006, Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, was quoted as saying virtually all the Google users in China were using the non-censored version of their website.

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".

External links

• Google China
• Official blog