This would be funny if it wasn’t so sad:
images.google.com/images?q=tiananmen
versus
images.google.cn/images?q=tiananmen
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Meta
pause of silence…..
I think I’m going to go vomit now. And delete my gmail account.
This is very sad. I’m stunned and shocked–I can’t desribe it any other way. On a side note, I’m kinda happy I don’t have a gmail account or use Google that often.
Life is full of compromises, and business life even more so. Google is in business in a very competitive area so it’s no surprise that they’ve had to make this disappointing concession to do business in China. But it’s not up to Google alone to change the Chinese government’s policies on freedom of expression. Such change will come when the people demand it and that is more likely the more contact they have with the outside world. And it’s Google and the Internet at large who will help to bring that about.
I do use Google. I have adsense on my site and don’t feel bad about it. Xorg brings up a valid point. Change will come when people want it bad enough. I am not an advocate of violence or war but, regretably and historically, Sun Tzu is largely right. Changes in government usually only occur through violence or or the perception of unavoidable violence.
Google is not interested in sharing its web cache with China as much as they are interested in getting AdSense there and getting a feel for the Chinese consumer.
Microsoft alread did the same type of thing with MSN search and I am confident we will see other companies behave the same. It is, unfortunately, not about politics. It is about money.
One thing, however, trade engourages more than a simple change of products and goods… It also encourages the exchange of ideas. That is the small white dot on the dark side of the Yin-Yang circle.
I see the same following both links because of the machine’s setting…
Balint: google.com shows the student standing in front of the tank as the first image, while google china shows some pagode and some pictures of tourists posing…
To be fair though, Google is far from the only one making sacrifices to gain market share. The other big players have done the same before — and Yahoo even went so far as help the Chinese government in arresting a dissident… Point being: if you’re going to boycott, you’d have to stop using just about any of the main search-engines. Sad but true.
a good bye/buy? …google stock price dropped about 10% today on the shocking news their reported net rose a mere 86%.
OK, let’s pretend that I own Google. I want a BILLION people to use my service. Do I ignore the government? Hell, that only happens in Bill’s office, and France. It’s just good biznis to make the government happy and gain millions of customers….
But, as a personage who doesn’t own Google, and vehemently opposes censorship of any kind, this makes me want to vomit, Ahmet.
So, though I understand Google’s motivations in helping a totalitarian government to suppress freedom of speech, I personally wouldn’t do it… but that’s because I don’t own Google. Hell, I can’t even afford a poodle made in China.
el Wazoo Grande