google

Just in case you haven’t been keeping up, here’s the skinny:

Google retreats from China because:

  • Google refuses to cooperate with government censors after hackers stole some of the company’s source code
  • They also broke into Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights advocates
  • Final verdict: Google will redirect Chinese users to its uncensored search engine in Hong Kong

However, Google will keep a few things in China:

  • Research & development team
  • Local sales force
  • Online maps
  • Music services

China already blocks major social media networks:

  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Consequences?

  • Google’s losing out on nearly 400 million online users – essentially the world’s largest Internet market.
  • But according to NYTimes.com, there will be limited financial impact on Google
  • Google trailed its Chinese equivalent, Baidu.com with 33 percent market share compared to Baidu’s 63 percent. Check out The Rise of Baidu (That’s Chinese for Google)
  • China accounted for only a small fraction of Google’s global revenue last year
  • Ads once on google.cn will now appear on Google’s Hong Kong search engine

baidu

Image & News Source: NYTimes.com