HUA HIN, Thailand - The backlash from Google's threat to pull out of China has
been far reaching, with a number of developments evolving following the
company's announcement last week.
Google has postponed the release of two Android powered smart-phones to the
Chinese market until the US-based company's future in the country is decided.
The phones, made by Motorola and Samsung, were expected to run on China
Unicom's network.
Many have started questioning the quality of both the Google and Baidu search
engines since there may only be one in the coming weeks. Search tests have been
conducted on both and the results revealed were disappointingly similar. Baidu
often returns
the Chinese equivalent of Wikipedia, called Baidu Baike, for many search terms
and Google simply returns Wikipedia, or the Chinese equivalent, on a
disproportionate number of its results pages.
Both sets of results are heavily filtered and it is this filtering that has
given Google a digital axe to grind.
Given the premise that most Chinese prefer Baidu anyway and the concept of a
real search engine still eludes China, it seems that if Google does pull out,
Baidu is likely to mop up the remaining market share and continue feeding
people what the government want them to see. The stock prices have reflected
this notion over the past week, as Baidu's Nasdaq-listed shares have gained
around a fifth in value.
Google may find a way around the problem by leaving a sales presence in China,
since the majority of its revenue from the country comes from ads that Chinese
companies place on its affiliate websites in the United States and not from
those on its Google.cn search engine.
Baidu has been on the warpath this week, as the company filed a lawsuit against
a US web firm after its site was attacked last week. Domain name registrar
Register.com has been sued for damages over the recent disruption of service
from China's leading search engine following a cyber attack by a group of
Iranian hackers (see
Google fired up over China's great wall , Asia Times Online, January
16, 2010). The company claims that its domain name server was manipulated in
the US as a result of gross negligence by Register.com. Speculators are already
stating that the move is in response to Google's ultimatum and that Baidu also
wants to make it clear that it, too has been the victim of attacks just as its
American rival has.
A digital accomplice has already been fingered for the Google hacks and
surprisingly it comes in the form of a web browser. The attack was administered
with the use of malware and phishing, which are systems used to trick people
into clicking links in their e-mail. These phony links take the user to
malevolent websites, which then download software, via flaws in the web
browser, to compromise the computer. The flawed web browser in question was,
predictably, the world's most popular - Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).
Microsoft on Thursday released an out-of-cycle patch to fix flaws in IE 6, 7
and 8. The major problems lie with IE 6, which is still used by just over 20%
of web surfers. This week, the governments of Australia, Germany and France
warned web users to use an alternative browser. In a statement to the BBC,
anti-virus company Sophos said, "We've been working to analyze the malware that
the Chinese are using. But new versions can always be created."
Rival browser company Mozilla has enjoyed the news with
downloads of their Firefox browser on the increase this week.
Industry
In an unusual shift of alliances, Apple is reportedly considering giving Google
the boot and opening the door to Bing as the default search engine for the
company's iPhone. According to a report in Businessweek, an accelerating
rivalry between Apple and Google, spurred in all probability by Google's new
mobile handset, the Nexus One, has caused the re-think at Apple. The move could
mean that Apple's arch-enemy is now longer Microsoft but Google.
Both Google and Apple have recently acquired mobile advertising companies in
efforts to out-do each other in the same market. Apple is considering offering
developers the ability to place ads in its App Store software and take a cut of
the revenue, and Microsoft is eager to take a bigger slice of the search market
from Google.
Apple is in for a lot of attention next week, as its fourth-quarter earnings
are due along with the launch of its long-awaited tablet computer, the iSlate.
In true Apple fashion, the company has released few advance details on the new
unit; the deciding factor for its success or failure in the current market is
likely to be its price.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about
sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
Industry
