Google Can’t Seem to Quit China

Google doesn’t really want to be out of China it appears. Despite a principled stand against censorship and the subsequent revelation that Chinese government surrogates were behind GMail hacking the company is contemplating a “return” to the Chinese market. In fact it’s still there but in a half-hearted way. Google CFO Patrick Pichette told the […]

Chat with SearchBot

Google doesn’t really want to be out of China it appears. Despite a principled stand against censorship and the subsequent revelation that Chinese government surrogates were behind GMail hacking the company is contemplating a “return” to the Chinese market.

In fact it’s still there but in a half-hearted way.

Google CFO Patrick Pichette told the Times of London that the hacking episode last year that resulted in Google no longer complying with Chinese censorship restrictions was simply a “roadblock.”  Pichette is quoted in the Times (via Fox Business) saying, “China has 1.2 billion people. For Google to say, ‘We’re going to live on our mission, but not serve 1.2 billion people’ — it just doesn’t work. China wants Google.”

Picture 15

Credit: greatwallofchina.org

Beyond the notion of serving Chinese internet users, Google is finding it very difficult to resist the lure of the largest internet and mobile market in the world — and the potential revenue that it represents.

Baidu reportedly had a 73 percent share of the Chinese search market in Q3, while Google had 21.6 percent. Google now has an 8.9 percent share of the current Chinese advertising market, behind Baidu and portal Alibaba.

Related posts:


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.