Google in China: Can They Abide by “don’t Be Evil”

Google in China: Can they abide by “Don’t be evil”

Abstract

Google, known for its search engine capabilities, has been confronted with many obstacles while trying to enter the Chinese market. In 2000, the company had established a Chinese-language version of its popular search engine, hosted on servers outside China which delivered search results that were automatically translated in Chinese (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 467). This service left much to be desired; it was unreliable, and Chinese censors routinely removed search results (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 467). Google was losing market shares and at the same time the internet users in China was growing. Google’s opportunity to provide a search engine in China was diminishing. Chinese government had demanded that other U.S. firms identify individuals who had used the Internet to criticize the authorities, and at least one dissident had been jailed as a result (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 468). Google’s commitment to its end users was reflected in its code of conduct. Declaring that the company had “always flourished by serving the interests of our users first and foremost,” the code called for usefulness, honesty, and responsiveness in the company’s dealings with customers (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 470). Google had a “Don’t Be Evil” motto that was not lining up with regulations imposed by the Chinese government. By 2005 China’s internet users’ information and freedom was restricted and censorships were put into place by government. The question now would be, should Google try to resume efforts to do business in China or should this endeavor be abandoned?

Bad Business

There are both benefits and disadvantages to beginning business in China. In 2005, Google was the leading provider of internet search services in the world (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 468). The number of internet users in China grew from none in 1995 when the internet first became available to about 120 million in July 2005 (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 471). With an estimated population in China in July 2011 that will be greater than 1.3 billion (Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook, 2011) the Chinese market is one with a lot of potential growth. China’s GDP grew tenfold over the past three decades; by 2005, China had become the largest economy in the world after the United States (Lawrence & Weber, 2011, p. 471). According to the Chairman Emeritus of the Publicis Public Relations and Corporate Communications Group, Louis Capozzi, “Google’s presence in China will make a positive difference now and in the future” ("Advice on Google," 2007, p. 24).

The cost to begin providing internet