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MARKETING: What is the future Google Strategy in China?
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What is the future Google Strategy in China?

By Anne Shore


Yes, you heard that right. Google has plans to get back into China for obvious reasons. There are twice as many people using the Internet in China than there are permanent residents in the United States of America, which means Google can reach masses of people and sell out. Another piece of good news for Google is the fact that the number of Internet users in China is growing at the fastest rate as compared to that of any other country in the world! What else is needed to provoke Google to come back?


Google China History

BT 201611 110 01 Marketing googleSince now there are efforts being made for the return of Google to the world’s most populated country, it is of interest to know why Google left China in the first place. You might have guessed right!


Google shut down its operations in China in 2010 after it, along with dozens of other companies, became a victim of cyber attack coming from within China. Reports say that Google later found out that a number of Chinese got their Gmail accounts hacked. That was it and Google couldn’t take it anymore!


After the 2010 breach, Google decided to reverse course. The government demanded that Google should filter its search results. Instead of doing that Google directed the Chinese traffic to Hong Kong’s search engine. It was this move that became the ultimate reason for Google’s exit from China. Literally, within months there were millions of users who could not access Google’s services.


Social Media

In some countries such as Russia, there are always requests issued by the government for companies to take down a wide range of content that does not conform with the country’s policies.


BT 201611 110 02 Marketing googleAmerican senior staff attorney, Lee Rowland is of the opinion that companies shall abide by the government’s requests regarding any sort of content, if it means that they can still deliver their services to the population.


Therefore Google and all other major social networking sites submit a very detailed transparency report on an annual basis in which they display the number and kind of content takedown requests that they have received. They also publish the number of requests that they have complied with. Furthermore, companies are known to submit their rationale for coping with such requests.


With the era that we are living in, it has somehow become a need of the hour to monitor online activities. There is a growing tension that terrorist and extremist groups also use the same social media platforms and hence many European governments are also very interested in monitoring the Internet. Every year, companies that are working European countries receive government requests for content takedowns. Reports say that the number of such request is increasing every year and the main reason is to ensure Internet security.


Probably that’s something Google, similar to many other social media sites, has realized now and is therefore ready to start the Chinese endeavor again!


Google, Its Comeback and Strategy

Well no doubt Google has got some of the best brains in the world. We say so because the world has witnessed Google tackling such issues and coming out of them quite competently. It won’t be the first time when Google would be making efforts to re-enter a territory that it had left previously.


BT 201611 110 03 Marketing googleA couple of years ago, Pakistan had banned Youtube because of some controversial content having been displayed. In an attempt to lift the ban implemented by the government of Pakistan, Google launched a localized version of Youtube. And this lifted the ban!


Although the number of takedown requests increases every year, companies leave no stone unturned to get engaged with the governments that issue them. That is the exact case between Google and China. As it is preparing to re-enter the country, Google is hiring for dozens of positions. There are also reports of Google working towards an agreement with the government: it offers to bring an app store which will only provide apps that have been approved by the Chinese government. In such a case both the parties would be satisfied and can work in harmony. With such marketing, Google has a long way to go! There is no place like China for foreign companies to do business!


If Google comes back to China, there is no doubt that Google’s business would get a boost to a great extent. And that is because of the large market available here in China. The expansion of Google will allow it to access a huge number of Internet users and deliver to them more information than they have right now.


Benefits to China

Well, it would be wrong to say that only Google is benefitting from its comeback. Of course there are plenty of benefits coming China’s way too.


Millions of Chinese netizens are disappointed by the services being provided by ‘Baidu’, the largest search engine company in China. After Google left the country, Baidu left no opportunity to loot the citizens. Yes, that’s right. An example of Baidu’s incompetence is the fact it started charging people with advertising fees without any principles. The company can do that because it has already established its monopoly in the country. Therefore, if Google comes back and starts charging people in the right way, millions of Chinese would be happy!


Another strong voice comes from Chinese academics because they believe in intellectual freedom. They really welcome Google’s return and the reason is that with Google they have access to Google scholar and so they can review and download loads of academic papers. Otherwise, they have to go through other low quality databases for academic purposes.


Conclusion
In a nutshell, Google’s comeback seems to benefit both China and Google. But the truth lies in the fact that for many companies such as Google and millions of Internet users in many countries, the tradeoff remains the same: accessibility to more information comes with the cost of government control on a continuous basis exerted through foreign Internet Companies.


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