Google: Do You See What I See?
March 29, 2011
I am in the deep dish pizza pan of jet lag. The goodies are gone and I am like the goo left behind. I did have the energy to read “Still Active In China, Google Hunts For New Business.” I wandered around a tech conference in Hong Kong. I went to some meetings. I had chats at breaks with rocket scientists. My interest was not the Google. I was there to flog my “content with intent” service, and I was busy. Too busy, I think from the bottom of the greasy pan.
There were some folks who wanted to talk about Google. I flipped the question because I am not involved with Google research at the moment. The answers I got back were consistently negative. My sample is skewed and maybe the rocket scientists at the Online Asia Pacific show were not representative of attendees from various countries 12 times zones from the goose pond. My take was that Google had stumbled in China and everyone seems to know it.
I read in the “Active in China” article this passage:
While it continues to battle the Chinese government over censorship and privacy concerns, Google Inc. is pushing forward with a bid to find new business. In a speech earlier this month, Elliott Ng, Google’s new director and head of product management for China, said the company was not only generating revenue there, but had its most profitable month ever in China in December.
Is the assertion about revenue true? Are there some verifiable data from a source other than a consultant, poobah, or maven? If Google has found a way to criticize a government AND earn money in the country controlled by the government with which Google finds fault, that’s good news. What struck me about this comment in the cited article is that I did not get one hint, hear a peep, or pick up a suggestion that Google was in high cotton in China.
If anything, the notion of “curation” and understanding online policy is strong and going to get stronger. My source was a minister from the country which Google finds deeply flawed. I think everyone should have an opinion and the right to express it in appropriate ways in appropriate contexts. However, in some situations, one must understand that the “rules” or “assumptions” from one nation state do not automatically apply within the borders of another nation state.
To forget that a company is one type of entity and a country an another can lead to some darned exciting situations. So, I want to see some numbers for Google’s assertions and hear from various business partners and a handful of government officials that the Google assertions are indeed the reality in China. Is this unreasonable? I think not. I wonder if that smudge of cheese is edible? No assumption needed. A taste test will do.
Stephen E Arnold, March 29, 2011
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One Response to “Google: Do You See What I See?”
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Well no precise number, but it’s well known that google business is not search but advertisement. Maybe China is a location where google will learn to make advertising without being the leader of internet search. Knowing a bit about chinese people and their love for brand and advertisement, I guess it could work (and apparently it works 😉