Slashdot Mirror
Google Using Chinese Site It Owns To Develop Search Term Blacklist For Censored Search Engine, Says Report (theverge.com)
Google is using search samples from a Beijing-based website it owns to make blacklists for the censored search engine it is developing for China. Google's website 265.com redirects to China's dominant search engine, Baidu, by default, "but Google can apparently see the queries that users are typing in," reports The Verge. From the report: Google engineers are reportedly sampling those search queries in order to develop a list of thousands of blocked websites it should hide on its upcoming search engine in China. Blacklisted results, which include topics like the Tiananmen Square massacre, will result in users seeing a blank page, The Intercept reports. On Baidu, if you search for something less specific, like Taiwan or Xinjiang, you'll get a partial blackout where you can only see tourist information and not politically sensitive news reports. It could be possible that Google is taking a similar tack.
Originally, 265.com was founded in 2003 by Chinese entrepreneur Cai Wensheng, who's also the founder of Chinese beauty app Meitu. Google bought the site in 2008, while it was still operating its search engine within China. Google has essentially been using the site to figure out what Chinese users are searching for since 2008, and now that it is working on an Android search app, it will finally have a use for that data. The Intercept first reported this news.
Originally, 265.com was founded in 2003 by Chinese entrepreneur Cai Wensheng, who's also the founder of Chinese beauty app Meitu. Google bought the site in 2008, while it was still operating its search engine within China. Google has essentially been using the site to figure out what Chinese users are searching for since 2008, and now that it is working on an Android search app, it will finally have a use for that data. The Intercept first reported this news.
How many Google employees demanded Google not work on US Military projects that defend the free world?
Did Google withdraw from those US Military projects?
How many Google employees demanded Google not work on Chinese government projects to oppress people?
Has Google withdrawn from Chinese oppression projects?
Remember: As a one-party-rule Communist nation with a dictator-for-life, EVERYTHING in China is tied to China intelligence and military entities - there's no credible claim that a tool used to spy upon and oppress the Chinese citizenry is NOT associated with Chinese spy agencies and the Chinese military.
Perhaps Google needs to dump all the H1-B employees and hire a few more patriotic American citizens --- IF there are any patriotic American citizens still willing to work there...
Anyone else's brain segfault while parsing the headline? In other words: Segfault Brain: Yours Did, asks commenter questioninglyish.
I'm surprised that google.com itself wasn't the prototype. Those of us who use the other search engines know how... opinionated the results are. To the point where when I'm searching for something very specific, I can't find it but it's a first page result on other engines.
I used them before they had their own domain name, but they're too manipulated now by people who care about things other than whether or not I can find the information I'm looking for.
I guess that's an "inconvenient truth".
Google is a despicable capitalist corporation that eats up people like you and shits out perfumed turds.
Don't Be Evil
Tibet
Tiananmen Square protests and the date1989.
No mention of the June 4 incident.
No Gang of Four https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Thats some might fine freedom of speech for a US brand....
Not going to find two term limit.
No searching for 1984, Brave New World, Personality cult, emperor’s reign, ascend the throne. No yellow gown.
Nothing on a third consecutive term, continued rule.
Communism bringing censorship to a US brand for every user.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Tiananmen Square heroic tank maneuvers... GOOD!
Foxconn suicides - BAD.
Foxconn dormitory attached trampolines... GOOD!
VPN how-to - BAD.
Loving government monitoring for citizens’ protection... GOOD!
#DeleteChrome
It's time for everyone to stop bending over for China. Instead of helping them develop even more effective methods of oppression, the rest of the world should stand together and disconnect China from the internet. If they cannot play by the rules (not murdering people), they should not be allowed to play.
Can almost see Google in a VW rolling down the street with fanta in hand, stack of holerith cards in the trunk snapping kodaks for the AP.
They love to shit all over the US, such as not working on AI for military projects, but they are sure as hell happy to work on a search engine to censor ordinary citizens in China.
Seriously, Google has lost their way and deserves to die a slow death because of it.
It's time for everyone to stop bending over for China. Instead of helping them develop even more effective methods of oppression, the rest of the world should stand together and disconnect China from the internet.
Then they disconnect themselves from the Treasury Bill Auction and cash in their T-Bills.
Gotta do something about that balance of payments and/or the national debt if we want our great-great-great grandchildren to finally escape being held hostage in that way.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Time to give Google the corporate death penalty. Destroy all companies that help support dictatorships.
Nah, it's all good.
Just have Hillary give the Chinese a 'reset button'.
Problem solved!
(Can't wait to see how bad the translation of the label on *this* 'reset button' is, it's sure to be even more hilarious than the Russian version, LOL!)
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
"Destroy all companies that help support dictatorships"
So that would be the entire fortune 500? I think China would be pretty happy with that.
Google was tiny in China even when it was allowed.
Their translations also suck ass compared to Chinese sites translations, so even English searches would be mostly useless for Chinese information.
Google already missed its chance in search. Now it's about advertising in other ways.
I almost think this is better. Allow the search to run, but just show a blank page. Baidu's results give the impression "this is all there is to see, everything is fine". Google giving a blank page says essentially "we can't show you this" (without getting them in hot water by, like, displaying a message stating that). Google isn't breaking any laws because they are not showing any "politically sensitive" pages, but they are making it very obvious something is missing.
Google is exploring a way to serve Chinese people not the Xi regime. If Google can fine tune their SW to comply with local requirements it will help Their position in case restrictions lessen later. US took Middle East dictators oil for many years, coz it was beneficial.
Corporate slogan: Do be evil.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Apparently you haven't been keeping up with the news on the meeting:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/05/politics/trump-tweet-trump-tower-meeting/index.html
All corporations in China are majority owned by the Chinese Government.
Google is not the owner, merely one of the owners.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I agree. If you look for the causes behind most unrest in the world, economic profiteering is bound to come up.
The search engines cater to the commercial crowd. ... We need a search engine for blogs that really works.
As I understand it, what really happens is that the commercial crowd reverse-engineers the search engines and tunes their "message" pages to rank highly.
If there really was a "search engine for blogs that really works", and it became popular, they'd do it again for the new engine and it would no longer "really work". Just as they did with Yahoo, Google, and the dwarves.
The operators of these search engines have no interest in pushing anybody's product unless they've bought advertising. Indeed, they're behind if the advertisers parasitize the search indexes rather than paying for an ad or a sponsored search result.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way