Google (GOOG) Announces Chinese Workaround; Routes Google.cn Traffic to Hong Kong Site
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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced on Monday through its official blog that it has stopped censoring its search services on the company's China Web site as it had promised to do over two months ago. Google has a plan to stay in the Chinese market however by redirecting traffic from google.cn to its Hong Kong based Web site, google.com.hk where the company will be offering search results in simplified Chinese.
Google said the new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a "sensible solution" and "entirely legal". They said they hope the Chinese government respects their decision, though they said they are "well aware that it could at any time block access to our services."
The company has been at odds with the Chinese government since January 12 when it said that it had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from the world's most populous nation. The attacks focused on Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists in China were being accessed by third parties.
In response to the Chinese government's persistent stance in blocking websites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger has led to the stoppage of censoring practices on google.cn.
"Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard," the company said on Monday. "We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussion that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement."
The effort to keep the company relevant in China is important for the company as the country is the fastest growing Internet market with the highest volume of users of any nation. Google did warn in the report on it official blog that the increased volume on the Hong Kong servers, slowdowns in performance are likely to occur.
The blog iterated that the company plans to maintain a sales presence in China, including the availability of its Android operating system for smart phones.
Shares of Google are up 49 cents in aftermarket movement to $557.50 after dipping in regular market hours. Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) shares had jumped following the news of Google pulling its censorship in China, but dipped after the news that the google.cn users were being redirected to Hong Kong. Baidu shares are up just over 11.00 since the news to $580.46.
Google said the new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a "sensible solution" and "entirely legal". They said they hope the Chinese government respects their decision, though they said they are "well aware that it could at any time block access to our services."
The company has been at odds with the Chinese government since January 12 when it said that it had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from the world's most populous nation. The attacks focused on Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists in China were being accessed by third parties.
In response to the Chinese government's persistent stance in blocking websites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger has led to the stoppage of censoring practices on google.cn.
"Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard," the company said on Monday. "We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussion that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement."
The effort to keep the company relevant in China is important for the company as the country is the fastest growing Internet market with the highest volume of users of any nation. Google did warn in the report on it official blog that the increased volume on the Hong Kong servers, slowdowns in performance are likely to occur.
The blog iterated that the company plans to maintain a sales presence in China, including the availability of its Android operating system for smart phones.
Shares of Google are up 49 cents in aftermarket movement to $557.50 after dipping in regular market hours. Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) shares had jumped following the news of Google pulling its censorship in China, but dipped after the news that the google.cn users were being redirected to Hong Kong. Baidu shares are up just over 11.00 since the news to $580.46.
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