Google Tries “New Approach” in China
Via the BBC: Google in ‘new approach’ on China
Until recently, the firm automatically redirected Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong to get round censorship issues.
Google has said it will now stop this after Beijing warned it could lose its licence to operate in the country.
Instead, Chinese users will be sent to a "landing page". Clicking anywhere on it sends them to the Hong Kong site.
Google said it was hopeful that this subtle change – where users have to actively click on a link to access unfiltered search results rather than being automatically redirected – would allow it to continue operating in China.
Chinese law demands that companies use web servers based in China.
One suspects that the move will not necessarily placate the Chinese government, but we shall see.
And, here’s an interesting factoid:
China hopes that nearly half the population will have access to the internet within five years. That figure is nearly 30% at the moment.
That may be a mixed blessing. On one hand, it will very likely lead to a great increase in the number of spammers, ID thieves, and con folk on the Internet. On the other hand, that many Chinese will probably prove an irresistible target, so maybe someone else will get those stupid Nigerian scam-mails instead of me.