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Google To Launch Censored Search In China Despite Denials (thenextweb.com)
Google intends to launch a censored version of its Search app for China sometime in the next six to nine months, according to a leaked transcript from a private employee meeting held last month. The Intercept's Ryan Gallagher today reported the company's Search engine chief, Ben Gomes, held a meeting to congratulate a room full of employees working on the platform, dubbed Project Dragonfly. From a report: According to The Intercept, Gomes talked about the launch timeline: "While we are saying it's going to be six and nine months [to launch], the world is a very dynamic place." He goes on to point out that the current political climate makes it difficult to pinpoint a definite timeline, but indicates employees should be ready to launch whenever a "window opens." These comments come in stark contrast to public statements given recently by both Gomes and Google's chief privacy officer, Kieth Enright.
Speaking to members of Congress last month, Enright tried to skirt the issue of the Dragonfly project by playing dumb. According to Wired he didn't quite deny involvement, and in fact admitted the company had explored the idea, but simply stated Google wasn't "close to launching" the censored Search engine and that he was "not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project." Gomes took the soft-denial a step further when he told the BBC "Right now all we've done is some exploration, but since we don't have any plans to launch something there's nothing much I can say about it."
Speaking to members of Congress last month, Enright tried to skirt the issue of the Dragonfly project by playing dumb. According to Wired he didn't quite deny involvement, and in fact admitted the company had explored the idea, but simply stated Google wasn't "close to launching" the censored Search engine and that he was "not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project." Gomes took the soft-denial a step further when he told the BBC "Right now all we've done is some exploration, but since we don't have any plans to launch something there's nothing much I can say about it."
Does anyone in China actually care about Google search? The topic is a hot potato in the US for a number of reasons, but the fact is that search isn't that hard and there are already search engines available in China. It isn't as if Chinese internet users are lost among the myriad domains for lack of Google search...
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Once Google starts up in China, it is only a matter of time before someone accuses Google of censoring US search results to please China. It will be very hard to defend against such claims, especially as China will want something in return for allowing Google in.
Search results for Chinese roamers in the US are already censored. I doubt the Chinese care about the viewing habits of Americans. The Chinese only want two things from Google: block access to forbidden things for Chinese and rat out Chinese who are against the party.
Google will never become more than a niche player in China, they will simply not allow it.
Bing is already there.
I bet they are sipping Champagne at Duck Duck Go. Finally, a solid reason to exist.
Bing is nothing. Google is nothing. Baidu has a dominant share, and all non-Chinese search engines are bit players in China. The curious question is why the party is playing with Google at all. They will never allow Google to be a significant player in China, so why even talk to Google? Perhaps the appearance of subjugating a supposedly high-minded and powerful Western company? Perhaps the acquisition of technology that is de facto required of Western companies doing business in China?