6 ms·

Well, this makes me an even more enthusiastic Google user.

by lenni 17y ago

bad_user 17y ago
Not only do they show at least some humanity (which is hard for a company of their size), but they've also got big balls. It's interesting that while this may be a PR spin, few companies would have done it because the risks are much higher than the potential gains for shareholders.
- grandalf 17y ago
  Why does it take big balls to pull out of a market you're losing in?
  - gloob 17y ago
    "Losing" and "winning" aren't terribly relevant in a market. "Profitable" and "not profitable" are much more important. That's not really an answer to your question, but I've never understood why people think it's such a big deal that Google's not the biggest search engine in China.
    - grandalf 17y ago
      Well, you have to admit that google's investors have a notion of how well it will be able to transfer its business to developing markets... and so with all its advantages if google can't take first place in china, what does that say about its fundamental ability in non-us markets? I'd say that the perception that google will dominate search in worldwide markets is worth about $200 per share right now.
      - cvg 17y ago
        Google doesn't dominate every market, but I think they're doing quite well: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-market-share-in-your-country.html http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-market-shar... and http://www.artofseobook.com/search-engine-market-share-by-country-region/ http://www.artofseobook.com/search-engine-market-share-by-co...
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 17y ago
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- jerf 17y ago
  The Chinese government is the one trying to crack down. Google can choose to be complicit and stay, or fail to be complicit, and leave. It is not Google's fault that the government is continuing to crack down. If the end result is lowered access to information, lay the blame at the feet of the proper people: the Party. Incidentally, if China does decide to go culturally isolationist, that's the end of me worrying about them as an economic threat over the next thirty years. None of us is as strong as all of us. (No, not even having 1 billion people will count; the disadvantage of having one dominant closed culture will dominate in the information and idea era.)
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
    - scott_s 17y ago
      According to the article, the deal did change: In late 2008, just after the Beijing Summer Olympic games, the censoring took a turn for the worse, Mr. Brin says. Chinese authorities also began to tell Google it needed a number of additional licenses to operate its business, according to people familiar with the requests. Last year, Google was further hamstrung when Beijing accused it of having too much pornography on its site and forced Google to disable some features for a period. Google's YouTube video service, which China had blocked periodically over the years, became inaccessible in the country.
      - deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
    - moultano 17y ago
      >What changed is Google is losing market share [Citation Needed]
    - 17y ago

Well, this makes me an even more enthusiastic Google user.

by lenni 17y ago

Well, this makes me an even more enthusiastic Google user.

Not only do they show at least some humanity (which is hard for a company of their size), but they've also got big balls. It's interesting that while this may be a PR spin, few companies would have done it because the risks are much higher than the potential gains for shareholders.

grandalf 17y ago
Why does it take big balls to pull out of a market you're losing in?
- gloob 17y ago
  "Losing" and "winning" aren't terribly relevant in a market. "Profitable" and "not profitable" are much more important. That's not really an answer to your question, but I've never understood why people think it's such a big deal that Google's not the biggest search engine in China.
  - grandalf 17y ago
    Well, you have to admit that google's investors have a notion of how well it will be able to transfer its business to developing markets... and so with all its advantages if google can't take first place in china, what does that say about its fundamental ability in non-us markets? I'd say that the perception that google will dominate search in worldwide markets is worth about $200 per share right now.
    - cvg 17y ago
      Google doesn't dominate every market, but I think they're doing quite well: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-market-share-in-your-country.html http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/03/googles-market-shar... and http://www.artofseobook.com/search-engine-market-share-by-country-region/ http://www.artofseobook.com/search-engine-market-share-by-co...
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

jerf 17y ago
The Chinese government is the one trying to crack down. Google can choose to be complicit and stay, or fail to be complicit, and leave. It is not Google's fault that the government is continuing to crack down. If the end result is lowered access to information, lay the blame at the feet of the proper people: the Party. Incidentally, if China does decide to go culturally isolationist, that's the end of me worrying about them as an economic threat over the next thirty years. None of us is as strong as all of us. (No, not even having 1 billion people will count; the disadvantage of having one dominant closed culture will dominate in the information and idea era.)
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
  - scott_s 17y ago
    According to the article, the deal did change: In late 2008, just after the Beijing Summer Olympic games, the censoring took a turn for the worse, Mr. Brin says. Chinese authorities also began to tell Google it needed a number of additional licenses to operate its business, according to people familiar with the requests. Last year, Google was further hamstrung when Beijing accused it of having too much pornography on its site and forced Google to disable some features for a period. Google's YouTube video service, which China had blocked periodically over the years, became inaccessible in the country.
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
  - moultano 17y ago
    >What changed is Google is losing market share [Citation Needed]
  - 17y ago