Google vs China

Posted on 14/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Baidu, China, Google

Not content with taking on Microsoft through its software and Apple with its Nexus phone, it now seems that Google has declared cyber war on yet another foe: China.

It would appear the Chinese government has been caught trying to phish around in the gmail accounts of leading human rights activists. Although apparently unsuccessful, Google is now threatening to shut down both its China office and the heavily censored Google.cn service it runs.

The search giant said, "We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn… We recognise that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

Has Google actually just decided to cut its losses?

Some commentators have suggested it's really all a smoke screen, and that Google is looking for a way to pull out of China without losing face. They are currently lagging behind in the Chinese search market with only a 19% share, while Baidu hold what many people believe to be an unsalable lead with a whopping 77%.

However, 19% is still a huge amount of users in a country with an estimated 1.3 billion people. So it might seem unlikely that Google would want to throw in the towel just yet. Plus, the relatively cheap outlay needed in China helps make it a viable business venture. It all depends on whether Google thinks it will be able to a) cut away at Baidu’s lead b) keep hold of their 19%.