Sunday, March 21, 2010
Failed Search: Google ponders leaving China
Attempts to salvage a deteriorating business relationship are nearing an end in China as google will likely withdraw from China by the end of March. This coming on the heels of failed attempts for stronger censorship of its searches, legal complaints, and several efforts to hack its e-mail system in the previous months. Foreign companies (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) have all recognized the vast potential of the Chinese markets, however, have largely been unsuccessful in harnessing it. The Chinese government and Communist party continue to take further steps to control access and the capital flow in the market. Googles departure and tightening policies have sent a chilling message to companies that remain in China.
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2 comments:
This article is very interesting. China could make any company that can successfully establish themselves in the country very rich. The problem is the government. China is a member of the WTO, which is supposed to help keep trade free and open. China seems to be failing to fulfill this ideal by favoring local companies and making it harder for foreign companies to enter, even for ones that are willing to follow the country's strict censorship laws. I feel that foreign governments have more than enough cause to go to the WTO and file a formal complaint against China, if they have not done so already.
Google has to make a decision on whether it will chose to abide by the government regulations and practice business in China or whether it will simply drop out of the Chinese market. Even though China has been considered as a great area for growth, Google will may affect its image worldwide and as a consequence it may see a drop in worldwide consumers. In the past, Yahoo allowed the Chinese government to probe its users' emails. This negatively affected the image of Yahoo! throughout the world.
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