Trump gives TikTok until Dec. 16 to secure U.S. buyer
Brands and advertisers face fresh uncertainty as President Trump's executive order keeps TikTok alive in the U.S. as negotiations drag on.
Topic: Government of China
TikTok building new U.S. app ahead of expected sale
TikTok's reported plan to launch a separate app in the U.S. could disrupt ad targeting and user data continuity.
Supreme Court upholds TikTok divestment order: What you need to know
TikTok to be banned for 170 million U.S. users, disrupting campaigns and forcing brands to pivot organic and paid strategies.
Top 10 insights for SEO and PPC success in China
Running SEO and PPC campaigns in China is no easy task. But with these insights, you can substantially enhance your chances of success.
TikTok CEO faces congress over security concerns
The US government, worried about China's manipulation, seeks to manipulate TikTok to do what it wants.
Yahoo! withdraws from China, becoming the second major American tech company in a month to leave the country
"In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1," Yahoo! said.
Opinion: Google can’t resist China’s 800 million internet users
Despite moral and ethical concerns, Google CEO Sundar Pichai defends company's potential re-entry into China.
Report: Google building China search query ‘blacklist’ with aid of 265.com
The site was purchased by Google in 2008 and has been used to compile lists of keywords and websites that will be banned.
Report: Google plans to re-enter China with government-approved search app
Company reportedly has been meeting with officials and developing prototype search apps that comply with Chinese censorship demands.
Chinese government cracks down on search ads and “banned content”
New rules protect public but tighten government control over search results.
Chinese scrutiny of Baidu ads after bogus cancer treatment causes death
Advertising regulation in China currently doesn't cover paid search.
Google Swallows Hard, Renews Effort In China
Google has had a tumultuous and ambivalent relationship with China, reflecting an internal debate about the importance of the vast market to Google’s future revenues and the compromises involved in operating there. Yet the literal and figurative bottom line is that it’s all but impossible for a US public company to resist the lure of […]
China: Not So Fast “Googlerola”
Major international mergers and acquisitions typically must be approved by regulators in multiple jurisdictions before they can be consummated. As a practical matter this has historically meant North America and Europe for most Western companies. But as more US-based and European companies expand into China the Chinese government is increasingly getting in on the action. […]
Chinese Warn Google May Get Punished For Making Country Look Bad
China is being very defensive. Google’s recent exposure of more attempted Gmail hacking, targeting US government officials and Chinese human-rights activists, has made the Chinese government embarrassed and angry. Suspected state-sponsored Gmail hacking is what initially caused Google to discontinue cooperating with China’s internet censorship policies. Chinese: Google Is a “Political Tool” Last week’s hacking […]
Deadline Threatens Google Maps’ Existence In China
Maybe the sequel to John Adams’ seminal modern opera “Nixon in China” should be called “Google in China.” Its on-again-off-again dance with the world’s largest and most strictly controlled internet market is the stuff of melodrama. Renewing Google Maps’ License The latest episode in the ongoing saga poses the question whether Google will be able […]
Chinese Hacking Google Again To Stop “Jasmine Revolution”
As popular unrest has spread throughout the Middle East and led to the overthrow or ouster of governments in Tunisia, Egypt and potentially elsewhere (stay tuned), pro-democracy activists in China have also called for protests and a “Jasmine Revolution,” which is a reference to the Tunisian revolt. Ever vigilant against democratic reforms, the Chinese government […]
Wikileaks: Chinese Leaders’ Vanity Searches On Google Led To Hacking
I’m almost positive that one day we’ll see “Wikileaks: The Musical” on Broadway (or perhaps the Opera at The Met). There are equal measures of comedy, tragedy and intrigue in the many thousands of documents dumped and disclosed last week. It’s perfect fodder for dramatic adaptation. And one set of documents that embody all of […]
New Google China Dilemma: Get Maps License Or Get Lost
Google must get a license to operate Google Maps in China or risk state action against the company. According to Computerworld, “China will investigate and prosecute Google next July” if it doesn’t obtain the necessary license to continue operating its mapping service. The purpose of the mapping license regulations is ostensibly to “prevent security leaks […]
Google Sends Mixed Signals On China: Hiring But Future “Uncertain”
Ross LaJeunesse, Google’s Asia government affairs chief told an audience in Hong Kong that Google remains “committed to China and to our Chinese users” but added that its future in Mainland China is “uncertain.” At the same time, Google has reportedly been hiring people to protect its shrinking share in the world’s largest internet market. […]
China Renews Google License To Operate In China
Google updated their blog post on China saying the Chinese government has renewed their licenses to operate in China. Google said they “are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China.” When Google stopped censoring […]
Google No Longer Redirecting Google China To Google Hong Kong
Google announced they are no longer allowed under Chinese law to redirect Google.cn to Google.com.hk. The Chinese government told Google that they won’t renew their license to operate in China if they continue to do the redirect. Google’s solution? Create a landing page on Google.cn, which appears to be a search box, but when clicked […]
Impact Of Leaving China? Google Loses Paid Search Share
Google’s share of the paid search market in China fell a little more than 13% in the first quarter of 2010, marking Google’s first drop in that category since Q2 of 2009. The stats come from the Beijing-based research company Analysys International and are being reported today by Bloomberg. Google’s share of China’s paid search […]
Google Stops Censoring In China, Hopes Using New Domain Meets Legal Requirements
Beginning today, Google is no longer censoring results on its Chinese search engine, the company has announced. But rather than the expected “pullout” from China, Google hopes to continue operating within the country. It all comes down to whether the Chinese government decides operating off a Hong Kong domain — rather than the main Chinese […]
Google Looks To Shutter China Search Operation As Talks With Government Reach “An Impasse”
Yesterday I speculated about whether Google would be able to have it both ways: to remain in the Chinese search market and still live up to its bold proclamation that it would no longer comply with Chinese government censorship rules. The Chinese, all along, have given no indication that they intend to change their hard-line […]
Can Google Stay In China And Still Save Face?
Ever since Google’s bold statement early this year that it would be withdrawing from the Chinese search market if it couldn’t find a way to operate without censorship, Mountain View has found itself in a bit of a no-win situation. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has expressed several times that the company would like to remain […]
Google Resumes China Talks Despite Evidence Of Govt-Hacking Connection
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has re-engaged with China around its ability to continue operating its number two search engine in the country in an “unfiltered” way. The Chinese have given no public indications that they will permit this in the country, which is ruled by state control of speech and media. The […]
Google’s Sergey Brin Talking China At TED
At the TED conference in Southern California, host Chris Anderson held an impromptu Q&A with Google cofounder Sergey Brin on Google’s decision to leave China. Anderson started out asking Brin to recount what happened. A presentation about the GhostNet spying network had just concluded, and Brin said Google found they’d been targeted in a similar […]
Google Trying To Remain In China, Even If Search Engine Doesn’t
Last week on Google’s Q4 earnings call Google CEO Eric Schmidt seemed to “walk back” some of Google’s prior strong statements about leaving China if it cannot operate in an unfiltered way there. In response to a financial analyst question he said the following: We have made a strong statement we wish to remain in […]
Chinese Gov’t Offers Bland Statement On Google, Google.cn Employees Given Indefinite Holiday
It’s an open secret that the Chinese government and related Chinese companies conduct espionage against Western governments and companies operating both in and outside China. The Google GMail attacks represent a kind of “last straw” scenario. And it’s all but certain that this episode was either initiated by the government or done with government knowledge […]
Baidu: The Official Google Blog You Seek Does Not Exist (& Don’t Even Try Looking For It)
Looking for the official Google blog post about Google deciding to to leave China over censorship? Don’t try finding it on China’s leading search engine, Baidu. It doesn’t appear to exist. Google’s post was titled “A new approach to China.” A good search engine, at least the American-based ones that I’m familiar with, will generally […]
Google’s China Gambit: Day Two Reaction
Google’s decision to potentially pull out of China if it cannot operate without censorship is a remarkable story. The statement was made after Google discovered a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” on GMail. Google didn’t say the Chinese government was behind the attacks but that’s the clear implication. The attacks involved more than just Google […]
Google Just Says No To China: Ending Censorship, Due To Gmail Attack
Google has revealed that the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists were targeted last December in a hacking attempt. That, along with other issues, has convinced the company that it will no longer censor results China as the Chinese government wishes. In particular, Google has willingly allowed self-censored its search results since January 27, […]
Bing Censoring Chinese Search Results? Should There Be A Bing Boycott?
Boycott Microsoft Bing by Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times claims Microsoft is “sacrificing the integrity of Bing searches so as to cozy up to State Security in Beijing.” It is believes that Microsoft is censoring their search results to appease the Chinese government. Microsoft responded to this criticism with their blog post named […]
China, Censorship & Google Redux
In the wake of the 20th anniversary of the Chinese Government’s crackdown on democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, the issue of Google’s (self) censorship of search results in China has come around again. CNET has a lengthy and critical article on the subject: Google was going to help democratize data in China. Instead, about three […]
Google & Baidu Fail China’s Pornography Test, May Lead To Penalties
The Associated Press reports that China has begun a process to “purify the Internet’s cultural environment and protect the healthy development of minors.” This has resulted in the Chinese government finding that both Google and Baidu have failed to take “efficient” actions to remove content from their results after being notified of issues. The AP […]
China Now Number One Internet Market, Surpassing US
The Chinese Internet has surpassed the US in terms of overall users. According to BDA China (reported in USAToday), there are more than 220 million Chinese Internet users (17 percent of the population) compared with 216 in the US (71 percent). This is simply a function of the huge scale of the Chinese market, with […]
Yahoo Settles Lawsuit With Chinese Dissidents
Yahoo Settles With Chinese Dissidents from the Wall Street Journal reports Yahoo has settled the lawsuit brought to them over the two Chinese dissidents who were jailed illegally due to Yahoo handing over evidence to the Chinese government. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but we do know Yahoo has agreed to pay […]
Yahoo Asks Court To Dismiss Jailed Chinese Reporter Case
Yahoo to Court: Dismiss Torture Case from the New York Times blog reports that Yahoo is requesting that the court dismiss the lawsuit brought by jailed Chinese reporter. Chinese reporter Shi Tao was jailed and allegedly tortured by the Chinese government after Yahoo provided evidence against the reporter to the Chinese government. He then sued […]
Shi Tao, Jailed Chinese Reporter, Joins U.S. Lawsuit Against Yahoo
Jailed Chinese reporter sues Yahoo over his imprisonment from the International Herald Tribune reports Shi Tao, the Chinese reporter who was sentenced to jail allegedly because Yahoo Hong Kong and Yahoo China sent an email to the Chinese government that led to his arrest, has joined a US lawsuit against Yahoo. Yahoo admitted to handing […]
Yahoo Sued For Allegedly Helping Jail Wang Xiaoning
Chinese couple sues Yahoo for man’s imprisonment from Reuters reports that Wang Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling have sued Yahoo in the U.S. District Court for Northern California for allegedly helping the Chinese government prosecute Wang Xiaoning. The filing said that Xiaoning was in custody, he was “subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or […]