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Google Can’t Seem to Quit China

Greg Sterling on January 5, 2011 at 10:26 am

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.”

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.

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.