I was surprised to hear this week that Eric Schmidt is stepping down as CEO of Google. The reasoning from the media is that after the cyber attacks last year, Schmidt felt that Google should stay in China while Page and Brin wanted to pull out.
After Schmidt lost that battle, he also lost some momentum and apparently he may also be losing some of his bounce in his step.
Google has been showing slow growth in its search market share and with Facebook coming off a banner year,
some of Google's most prized engineers have lately jumped ship.
Since then China has blocked Google extensively and this week, Eric Schmidt did not attend President Hu's State Dinner at the White House despite the fact that several CEOs including Microsoft's Steve Balmer was there. Irrelevant, perhaps, but things are adding up.
Said Hello to Baidu
China Simply Doesn't Give a Hoot
Ultimatums and harsh unilateral actions don't appear to work in China. In the end, they only hurt Google and those who depend on the internet to do business. Google is losing touch of a vibrant economy and culture, one that we desperately need to collaborate with so that we can better understand and leverage each other's strengths in order to promote free trade and globalization in this vibrant and volatile marketplace.
So did Google make the right ethical decision to pull out. How about their partners that they are supposedly dissing? What should be Google's next move? Should they consider returning. Would this be the lesser of two evils?
Please chime in below.
After Schmidt lost that battle, he also lost some momentum and apparently he may also be losing some of his bounce in his step.
Google has been showing slow growth in its search market share and with Facebook coming off a banner year,
some of Google's most prized engineers have lately jumped ship.
A Great Decade, A Difficult Year
For the last year, Google has had a strained relationship w/ China especially after the cyber attack incident and Google put a kibosh on censorship by pulling their servers out of China and setting shop in Hong Kong. Although HK is part of the People's Republic of China sovereignty, their censorship is not applied there as there are special entities recognized by international treaty.
(For example, if you can read this blog, then you are not in China).
For the last year, Google has had a strained relationship w/ China especially after the cyber attack incident and Google put a kibosh on censorship by pulling their servers out of China and setting shop in Hong Kong. Although HK is part of the People's Republic of China sovereignty, their censorship is not applied there as there are special entities recognized by international treaty.
(For example, if you can read this blog, then you are not in China).
Since then China has blocked Google extensively and this week, Eric Schmidt did not attend President Hu's State Dinner at the White House despite the fact that several CEOs including Microsoft's Steve Balmer was there. Irrelevant, perhaps, but things are adding up.
Said Hello to Baidu
Google is also losing market share (of online time spent) in a big way to Facebook (A lot of their high prized engineers have already jumped ship).
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| From Seeking Alpha |
This is a critical juncture for the world's largest open-source company. Where Google proceeds needs could be home run or a double play since and the road to the World Series goes through Beijing. China is not just a communist regime, it is also the fastest growing region in the world. Every country either trades with China or gets smothered by its vast economic engine.
Google's Partners from Shanghai
An excerpt from Google's official blog: "We launched Google.cn in Jan 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open internet outweighed any discomfort in agreeing to censor some results."
Do No Evil
Prior to Google's decision to no longer succumb to China's demands, they were criticized heavily by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for contradicting the company's "Don't be Evil" ethic.
Human Ethics
Google knew absolutely what they were getting into. They formed ties and the corporate world were willing to take calculated risks. In many ways, Google has an ethical responsibility to maintain these ties. Surely Google was fully aware (with the exception of the cyber attack) of all the power and dogged tenacity of the Great "Fire" Wall of China. So why are they pulling out now?
That is why Google cannot completely ignore the Sleeping Dragon -- the most populous nation on Earth and the world's largest and fastest growing internet market -- with the number of people online exceeding the number of people living in the United States. We must work through our differences, agree to compromise, and strive to develop the world wide web so that we can better understand how the East and West can better collaborate to serve people from all over the Earth.
Media Pressure on Courts
Despite, China's tight clampdown on the internet, China does occasionally bow to pressures from the internet.
Take the case of Deng Yujiao, a young woman who rebuffed sexual advances by a government official last year, then stabbed him to death when he attempted to rape her. She was arrested, prompting a massive protest, online, with civil rights organizations petitioning for her release. Even the traditional Chinese media sided with the woman. Bowing to the pressure, the government cleared all the charges against Deng, and arrested and dismissed two officials who were present at the scene of the incident.
Facebook
From yesterday's L2 Social Graph clinic at George Washington University, I heard that there's no signs that China will open up to Facebook. China simply is not worried. They have Baidu, and they don't feel Facebook provides them with any tangible value. However, Zuckerberg's visit last month has paved the road ahead for potential entry -- Baidu execs are now calling for Facebook to entere China. But China does not have a great substitute for Google and the Chinese people need access to this quintessential search tool to promote free trade and extensive outreach around the world.
Google's Partners from Shanghai
An excerpt from Google's official blog: "We launched Google.cn in Jan 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open internet outweighed any discomfort in agreeing to censor some results."
Do No Evil
Prior to Google's decision to no longer succumb to China's demands, they were criticized heavily by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for contradicting the company's "Don't be Evil" ethic.
Human Ethics
Many say that China's web censorship laws are a bold affront to the core principals of human rights. Paradoxically, the number of bloggers and the number of Chinese citizens who are willing to express themselves personally, professionally and politically has exploded to an unprecedented scale. At the same time, China is cracking the hammer on political dissent and has the largest number of jailed journalists and cyber dissenters in the world. The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year sentence for writing about democracy.
With all its ethical and moral flaws regarding censorship, some say still that a China with Google is far better than a China without -- even Google execs tempered this statement lately.
Trying to Salvage e-Business
Although Google's web search is restricted and their reputation tattered, Google is currently targeting Chinese companies to advertise on their international search sites. However, Google's open defiance of Beijing has severely hampered Google's once shiny star. When Google pulled out, numerous business deals with Chinese internet companies were irrevocably damaged -- some went completely belly-up.
Google's Reasoning to Enter
A statement on Google's official blog, tempered this statement:
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results.”
Google knew absolutely what they were getting into. They formed ties and the corporate world were willing to take calculated risks. In many ways, Google has an ethical responsibility to maintain these ties. Surely Google was fully aware (with the exception of the cyber attack) of all the power and dogged tenacity of the Great "Fire" Wall of China. So why are they pulling out now?
That is why Google cannot completely ignore the Sleeping Dragon -- the most populous nation on Earth and the world's largest and fastest growing internet market -- with the number of people online exceeding the number of people living in the United States. We must work through our differences, agree to compromise, and strive to develop the world wide web so that we can better understand how the East and West can better collaborate to serve people from all over the Earth.
Despite, China's tight clampdown on the internet, China does occasionally bow to pressures from the internet.
Take the case of Deng Yujiao, a young woman who rebuffed sexual advances by a government official last year, then stabbed him to death when he attempted to rape her. She was arrested, prompting a massive protest, online, with civil rights organizations petitioning for her release. Even the traditional Chinese media sided with the woman. Bowing to the pressure, the government cleared all the charges against Deng, and arrested and dismissed two officials who were present at the scene of the incident.
From yesterday's L2 Social Graph clinic at George Washington University, I heard that there's no signs that China will open up to Facebook. China simply is not worried. They have Baidu, and they don't feel Facebook provides them with any tangible value. However, Zuckerberg's visit last month has paved the road ahead for potential entry -- Baidu execs are now calling for Facebook to entere China. But China does not have a great substitute for Google and the Chinese people need access to this quintessential search tool to promote free trade and extensive outreach around the world.
China Simply Doesn't Give a Hoot
Ultimatums and harsh unilateral actions don't appear to work in China. In the end, they only hurt Google and those who depend on the internet to do business. Google is losing touch of a vibrant economy and culture, one that we desperately need to collaborate with so that we can better understand and leverage each other's strengths in order to promote free trade and globalization in this vibrant and volatile marketplace.
So did Google make the right ethical decision to pull out. How about their partners that they are supposedly dissing? What should be Google's next move? Should they consider returning. Would this be the lesser of two evils?
Please chime in below.
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