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Google Bans VPN Ads in China (zdnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Google has banned ads for virtual private network (VPN) products targeting Chinese users, ZDNet reported on Wednesday. From a report: The company cited "local legal restrictions" as the cause of the VPN ad ban. "It is currently Google Ads policy to disallow promoting VPN services in China, due to local legal restrictions," Google said in an email today. The email was received and shared with ZDNet by VPNMentor, a website offering advice, tips, and reviews of VPN products. The company said Google prevented its employees from placing Google search ads for the Chinese version of its site.

24 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. So what? by Red_Forman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Google complies with local laws". That's it.

    If you have a problem, take it up with the Chinese government.
    Good luck.

    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google uses sketchy tax-avoidance schemes to evade paying taxes in hosted countries. What else is new? (Doesn't make it right, just that its not surprising)

    2. Re:So what? by puck01 · · Score: 1

      This. China has very strict ad rules that are subject to change. Some are strict in regards to avoiding false advertising and some are more about censorship.

      I know of a group who has created products directed at ad agencies there. The products are used to screen for banned types of wording so the ad agency can more easy create ads that will not violate local law. This is apparently hard to do. Taking all their ideas to a legal team first is expensive and time consuming. They use the tools to filter down to verbiage that is more likely to be acceptable. Something like that.

       

    3. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not that China doesn't have oil, (because it does, it's the 4th largest global oil producer), that the West doesn't invade and impose regime change, er, I mean, liberate and bring democracy to the oppressed citizens, it's because China has nukes. We don't bring democracy to authoritarian states that have them.

    4. Re:So what? by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 2

      Universal laws, universal moral truths, universal values. When people are oppressed by their governments, it is America's job to intervene and implement regime change. Just like we're doing in Venezuela right now.

      What's that, China doesn't have any oil? Well they can have their own laws then, who cares?

      You're pretty stupid, aren't you?

      --
      "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
    5. Re: So what? by Type44Q · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's it.

      No, it isn't it; that's never been an excuse. Fuck Google and fuck you.

    6. Re:So what? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      The reason why the Tex-colectors are stumped by Google. Is because they follow the local laws to the letter witch allows for loopholes around the tax code.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    7. Re:So what? by Merk42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      But this is Slashdot, we need to be against literally every move Google (and other tech companies) do, even when that move is something we complained about them not doing on a previous article.

    8. Re:So what? by fenrif · · Score: 1

      And if the local laws were, for example, "don't serve blacks" would we also not be allowed to comment on it and take Google's adherance to that law as demonstrating low moral character?

    9. Re:So what? by Highdude702 · · Score: 1

      All that salt you look like a lays chip.

  2. Eh? by fubarrr · · Score: 2

    > from placing Google search ads for the Chinese version of its site.

    Google.cn??? Google.cn is just a picture placeholder...

    1. Re:Eh? by TimothyHollins · · Score: 1

      Would you say that it's fully operational?

  3. There’s a Chinese version of Google? by BLToday · · Score: 1

    I thought Google left China and is currently working on a version of their site for China.

    1. Re:There’s a Chinese version of Google? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Google never left China, it still has several offices in China with hundreds (if not thousands) of employees. Google stopped hosting its Chinese language search engine in China in 2010, but continues to provide advertising services there. Google had revenue of $3B from China in 2018.

  4. Translation by jenningsthecat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The company cited "local legal restrictions" as the cause of the VPN ad ban.

    In other words, "The Chinese market is too lucrative to risk pissing off the country's rulers, so we're going to go full-on evil in order to curry favour and secure our place at the trough".

    Fuck Google.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:Translation by TimothyHollins · · Score: 1

      Can you really not see the difference between a law that enforces consumer rights/privacy and a law that obliterates any attempts of human rights/privacy?

  5. Protecting the users is a better excuse by shanen · · Score: 1

    I think the google should have claimed they are just protecting the Chinese users of their services. After all, the Chinese are surely working on ways to track the ads people respond to. The google cannot absolutely guarantee the security of the clicks on ads.

    If they were as cunning as they are accused of being, the Chinese government would encourage the google to show the VPN ads--after setting up some facade VPN companies and arranging for them to advertise heavily while targeting Chinese users. Much easier to collect the information the police want from the other end of that particular crime.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  6. So which is it? by Cowardly+Lurker · · Score: 1

    Google bans VPN Ads in China
      (OR) Apple bans VPN in China
      (OR) China bans VPN in China
      (OR) Yet another post-totalitarian authoritarian regime relies on repression to prop up weak legitimacy

  7. Not all Chinese users are in China by Nocturrne · · Score: 1

    What about all of the Chinese people living in the free world? Is this discrimination against all Chinese language users?

  8. Going full Communist by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    An ad company that wont do ads?
    Without a good VPN to escape the controls of a Communist nation:
    No freedom to look up funny political cartoon bear?
    No to services that allow people to find out more about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests?
    No reading about term limits?
    No to reading books and publications from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the USA?
    No to reading news from the real China, Taiwan?
    No 1984 books.

    An ad company selects to go full Communist. An ad brand that is compatible with state censorship provisions.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re: Going full Communist by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      Pretty much everyone who does business in China has to go full Communist. Those who do business in China is quite an extensive list. Do you have a solution? More tarriffs?

  9. Re:VPN ads are useless anyway by mirthworks · · Score: 1

    very much true.

    --
    n/a.
  10. Re:"Local" by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

    Because it's not the other 94% or 80%...

  11. But god forbid they help the US. by sabbede · · Score: 1

    Way to prioritize, Google. Won't help the US defend Americans, will help China oppress it's citizens.