Google (GOOG) Clings to Life In China
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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said on Friday that the Chinese government renewed its contract license that it needs to continue operations of its Web site in the country, securing the company's presence in the fastest growing Internet market despite the strained relationship.
The contract renewal had been in doubt after Google stopped filtering content on its search engine, and redirected users from its Chinese home page to a site in Hong Kong. The tensions arose following the hacking of Gmail account users that originated in China and Google’s opposition of the nation’s censorship laws.
"We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China," Google said in a update on its blog today.
No official statement has come from the Chinese government as of Friday morning as to why that renewed the contract of an outside company that knowingly violated the censorship regulations set forth by the country.
Google had closed its China search engine in March and began redirecting users to its Hong Kong site, a move that was not well received by the government in the world’s most populous nation. Google stopped the redirection process last week when Chinese officials said that the move could cost Google its license.
Google is not the dominate presence in China that it has in the U.S., as it holds a mere 30 percent of the nation’s market share. Chinese search engine, Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) dominates the country's market with 60 percent control.
Shares of Google are starting to climb after falling in recent months, up 4.26 percent to $476 in premarket trade Friday, while Baidu shares are heading the other way, down 6.05 percent to $68.05.
The contract renewal had been in doubt after Google stopped filtering content on its search engine, and redirected users from its Chinese home page to a site in Hong Kong. The tensions arose following the hacking of Gmail account users that originated in China and Google’s opposition of the nation’s censorship laws.
"We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China," Google said in a update on its blog today.
No official statement has come from the Chinese government as of Friday morning as to why that renewed the contract of an outside company that knowingly violated the censorship regulations set forth by the country.
Google had closed its China search engine in March and began redirecting users to its Hong Kong site, a move that was not well received by the government in the world’s most populous nation. Google stopped the redirection process last week when Chinese officials said that the move could cost Google its license.
Google is not the dominate presence in China that it has in the U.S., as it holds a mere 30 percent of the nation’s market share. Chinese search engine, Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) dominates the country's market with 60 percent control.
Shares of Google are starting to climb after falling in recent months, up 4.26 percent to $476 in premarket trade Friday, while Baidu shares are heading the other way, down 6.05 percent to $68.05.
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