So Google left China. Right?

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So Google left China. Right?

Posted by claude - 23/04/10 at 09:04:09 am

I am sure everyone has heard about Google saying bye bye to China after the alleged hack attack, which, according to Google, was the final straw for them. The thing however, was that Google didn’t really leave China but only forwarded the requests to google.cn to their Hong Kong site (which technically is still China but whatever). That status of all other Google services (docs, mail etc.) hasn’t really changed much. Google Docs for example mostly works the way it did before the incident and stuff like Google Sites is still blocked.

In addition to the coverage of the hacking incident, there has been much talk about how business will become difficult for Google in China and how China might retaliate against Google. While some of this might be true, what I saw this morning in Shanghai’s subway line 2 is fairly surprising. Check this out:

Yes, a Google ad (click to enlarge), for their G.cn domain. In fact, the whole train was plastered with those ads. For those who don’t know, line 2 isn’t some rural country side subway line. It’s like the main line that connects Puxi with Lujiazui financial district and transports about a buzzillion people every day (my estimate).

Once you open G.cn, you get forwarded to Google.cn which then forwards you to their HK site. Doesn’t make much sense to me but I guess Google has it’s reasons for this. One thing is for sure though, Google hasn’t left China and it sure doesn’t look like they intend to do so.

April 23, 2010 | In China, Shanghai | No Comments

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Claude Ritter