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Sunday 17 January 2010
Fears that life without Google ‘will leave the mainland blind’
Mainland internet users are contemplating a Google-less future in the wake of the US search giant’s announcement it would no longer accede to government censorship demands.
Fears that life without Google ‘will leave the mainland blind’
Kristine Kwok and Stephen Chen 15 January 2010
Mainland internet users are contemplating a Google-less future in the wake of the US search giant’s announcement it would no longer accede to government censorship demands.
The Chinese version of the site, Google.cn, was accessible yesterday, but the prospect that it might be soon be shut down prompted widespread concern that the biggest losers would not be the company or China’s image but ordinary people.
Analysts said China’s unwillingness to compromise on internet censorship bodes badly for Google.cn, but overall blocking of Google.com and other applications such as Gmail would be unlikely. Some Google services, such as video-sharing site YouTube and Blogspot, were blocked before the announcement.
Wang Zheng, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Policy and Management, urged the government to be open-minded and allow Google to continue operating in China.
“If Google leaves, Google Scholar [an online collection of research articles and journals] will go with it, and my research quality will be hugely affected,” he said.
“If Google leaves, Google Maps will go, and my research cost will increase significantly. If Google leaves, I will be blind, and our country will be blind.”
An anonymous commentator on KDnet, a popular online chat room, said Google’s withdrawal would hinder electronic commerce in China.
“When you need to buy a commodity or equipment, your first choice is to search with Google. Although Baidu’s search is a lot better than before, it’s still not comparable to Google,” the commentator said.
Another wrote that Google’s shutdown would signal a deteriorating investment environment.
“If even a wealthy company like Google has to give up on China, other foreign enterprises will have to weigh up [the situation],” he said.
Beijing-based internet analyst Kaiser Kuo said many Chinese internet users were disappointed by Google’s unexpected announcement.
“They think the everyday Chinese internet users’ concern is not fully taken into account in this decision. It’s really going to adversely affect them with Google leaving,” Kuo said.
“There is a sense of sadness, and a sense that there wasn’t adequate consultation not just with its employees but also Google’s partners in China and everyday users.”
Google remains significantly behind Baidu in terms of market share, but the majority of its users are well-educated, according to Zhou Hongmei, a vice-president and senior analyst at China IntelliConsulting Corp.
The company found in a survey last year that the percentage of master’s degree holders accessing Google was nearly four times that of Baidu. Google users in big mainland cities also had a higher average income.
Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of popular blog Danwei, which has been blocked in the mainland since last year, said the possible shutdown of Google.cn could isolate China.
“Google is a major part of the internet everywhere. If it doesn’t operate in China, it means Chinese people are isolated and may have a very different idea of the world from people outside China.”
Kuo said there was still a slim chance that the central government would quietly allow Google.cn to operate without a filter.
“The Chinese government is no longer afraid of people having access to the outside world; they’ve just accepted the inevitability that people who want that can get it. But what they are trying to prevent is the uncontrollable dissemination of information, because that is much more potentially destabilising,” he said.
Social networks Twitter and Facebook have been blocked since last year but still manage to attract mainland users using proxy servers and virtual private networks.
1 comment:
Fears that life without Google ‘will leave the mainland blind’
Kristine Kwok and Stephen Chen
15 January 2010
Mainland internet users are contemplating a Google-less future in the wake of the US search giant’s announcement it would no longer accede to government censorship demands.
The Chinese version of the site, Google.cn, was accessible yesterday, but the prospect that it might be soon be shut down prompted widespread concern that the biggest losers would not be the company or China’s image but ordinary people.
Analysts said China’s unwillingness to compromise on internet censorship bodes badly for Google.cn, but overall blocking of Google.com and other applications such as Gmail would be unlikely. Some Google services, such as video-sharing site YouTube and Blogspot, were blocked before the announcement.
Wang Zheng, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Policy and Management, urged the government to be open-minded and allow Google to continue operating in China.
“If Google leaves, Google Scholar [an online collection of research articles and journals] will go with it, and my research quality will be hugely affected,” he said.
“If Google leaves, Google Maps will go, and my research cost will increase significantly. If Google leaves, I will be blind, and our country will be blind.”
An anonymous commentator on KDnet, a popular online chat room, said Google’s withdrawal would hinder electronic commerce in China.
“When you need to buy a commodity or equipment, your first choice is to search with Google. Although Baidu’s search is a lot better than before, it’s still not comparable to Google,” the commentator said.
Another wrote that Google’s shutdown would signal a deteriorating investment environment.
“If even a wealthy company like Google has to give up on China, other foreign enterprises will have to weigh up [the situation],” he said.
Beijing-based internet analyst Kaiser Kuo said many Chinese internet users were disappointed by Google’s unexpected announcement.
“They think the everyday Chinese internet users’ concern is not fully taken into account in this decision. It’s really going to adversely affect them with Google leaving,” Kuo said.
“There is a sense of sadness, and a sense that there wasn’t adequate consultation not just with its employees but also Google’s partners in China and everyday users.”
Google remains significantly behind Baidu in terms of market share, but the majority of its users are well-educated, according to Zhou Hongmei, a vice-president and senior analyst at China IntelliConsulting Corp.
The company found in a survey last year that the percentage of master’s degree holders accessing Google was nearly four times that of Baidu. Google users in big mainland cities also had a higher average income.
Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of popular blog Danwei, which has been blocked in the mainland since last year, said the possible shutdown of Google.cn could isolate China.
“Google is a major part of the internet everywhere. If it doesn’t operate in China, it means Chinese people are isolated and may have a very different idea of the world from people outside China.”
Kuo said there was still a slim chance that the central government would quietly allow Google.cn to operate without a filter.
“The Chinese government is no longer afraid of people having access to the outside world; they’ve just accepted the inevitability that people who want that can get it. But what they are trying to prevent is the uncontrollable dissemination of information, because that is much more potentially destabilising,” he said.
Social networks Twitter and Facebook have been blocked since last year but still manage to attract mainland users using proxy servers and virtual private networks.
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