Google wins Internet content license in China
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Google Inc.  has won  preliminary approval from Beijing to provide Internet content  in China, the firm said on Wednesday, potentially allowing it  to offer news in the world's second-largest Internet market.
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(InfoWorld) - Google will open a research and development center in Shanghai, stepping up its effort to build a bigger search business in China. Google hasÂ struggled in ChinaÂ to create the dominance it enjoys elsewhere in the world. It took 19 percent of the country's search market revenue in the first quarter, compared with 57 percent for market leader Baidu.com, according to Analysys International, a telecom research and consulting company. A spokeswoman for Google in China, Marsha Wang, confirmed the plans for an R&D lab Friday. She declined to say how many people it will employ or provide other details. Google and its U.S. rivals, Yahoo and Microsoft, haveÂ faced political difficulties in China, for agreeing to censor search results. In addition, their services are sometimes hard to access from inside the country. Yahoo's Flickr division said this week that its service was being blocked in China. Â
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Google says it's grappling with an  unusual challenge in China's Internet market -- how to cater to  masses of Web surfers who go online for the first time via  mobile devices, rather than migrating from PCs.
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Although it is not confirmed, Google has entered into a joint venture with Top100.cn, which will allow Internet users to download licensed music for free.
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The Chinese government has signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing with four US and British industry associations for better protection of online copyright.
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(InfoWorld) - A photo that purports to confirm the existence of a new class of Chinese ballistic missile submarine could torpedo Google's aspirations in the world's second-largest Internet market. Users of Google Earth in China should enjoy it while they can. On July 5, researcher Hans Kristensen posted what he believes is the first photo of the Jin-class submarine to the Strategic Security blog on the Web site of the Federation of American Scientists, a nuclear weapons research and opposition group. The photo,Â taken from Google Earth, is accompanied by coordinates for six other Chinese submarine bases on the same page. Although it was the People's Liberation Army Navy that docked the alleged new sub outdoors, in full view not only of the commercial satellites that Google uses but also those employed by the U.S. and other militaries, that doesn't mean that China's growing blue-water force will take kindly to being put on display. The sub photo made headlines, with a story appearing on the front page of a newspaper called "Global Military Affairs Weekend," accompanied not by the Google Earth image, but a picture of a sub so old it looks like it fought in World War II. The article stated that the submarine captured by satellite was "China's newest submarine, the Yuan class." Google hasn't fared well in China, even before the sub photo surfaced. It trails rival BaiduÂ in the local search market, and earlier this year admitted that it hadÂ "inadvertently" usedÂ part of a database from Chinese portal Sohu.comÂ to create a Chinese-language search tool. The company has come under fire for knuckling under to Chinese Internet censorship policies, such as excluding politically sensitive results from the Chinese version of its search engine. None of this includes the other difficulties Google has encountered in China, including occasional blocking of its main search engine, the blocking of its Blogspot blogging site, the inaccessibility of cached pages from its main site, and limited access to Google News. In fairness, China isn't the only country that has had weaponry and military sites laid bare by Google Earth. The North Koreans must be thrilled that most of their naval bases can be viewed by anybody with a PC and a broadband connection. That's not to mention the new security risks presented to military installations in the U.S. and elsewhere, now that hostile forces, be they terrorists or regulars, have an easily accessible aerial view of each site. For situations like this in China, rarely is the reaction immediate. With Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games just over a year from now, China isn't eager to court negative press as it seeks to present itself as more open and tolerant. Its response may also not be so public. Despite being outed by a piece of software, Google's troubles will more likely occur if it attempts to expand in China via investment or acquisition, or if it attempts to move into other business areas, especially anything involving online video. A Google spokeswoman in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment on how the submarine photo may affect the company's fortunes in China. Â
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UnanimousCoward writes &quot;A spokesperson has responded to the &#39;censorship&#39; questions in this article: &#39;&quot;Google has decided that in order to create the best possible search experience for our mainland China users we will not include sites whose content is
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Google has acquired FeedBurner, a provider of publishing and advertising services for blogs and content syndication feed.
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By Wang Xu  ChinaCache, a Beijing-based Internet content delivery network (CDN) operator, has secured $31.5 million from overseas investors such as Intel Capital and Ignition Partners, thanks to the rapid development of China's Internet industry.
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Web search leader Google Inc is  planning to boost its presence in China by tying up with a  Chinese online music company to provide free music downloads,  The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
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China.com said it signed advertising contracts  with Google Inc. and China Mobile Ltd. to further expand its  strategic partnerships with the companies.
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According to a survey, 62.1% of Chinese users turned to local favorite Baidu Inc. for search -- up from about 52% in 2005 -- and much of that growth came at Google's expense.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s recently launched news service in China doesn't display results from Web sites blocked by that country's authorities, raising prickly questions for an online search engine that has famously promised to "do no evil."   Dynamic Internet Technology Inc., a research firm striving to defeat online censorship, conducted tests that found Google omits results from the government-banned sites if search requests are made through computers connecting to the Internet in China.    Steered by an identical search request, computers with a United States connection retrieved results from the sites blocked by China...
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A federal judge on Wednesday handed online search engine Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) a victory in a trademark infringement case on Wednesday, ruling
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U.S. antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc., clearing the way for a formidable combination in the burgeoning online advertising sector.
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Google  plans to enter the  online music market in China for the first time, as it steps up  its battle with local incumbent Baidu.com Inc , media  reported on Thursday. Google is expected to announce a joint  venture with Top100.cn, to allow users to listen to and  download licensed music files for free, major portal Sina.com  said, citing local newspaper reports based on sources close to  the U.S. firm.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft will display paid search listings from Baidu.comÂ among the search results of certain Microsoft Web sites, the companies announced on Thursday. Baidu, which operates China's most popular search engine, will have paid search listings on MSN, Windows Live, and other partner Web sites in China. Baidu battles Google in China, although not necessarily in the same areas.Â Baidu goes head to head with Google in searchÂ and has the biggest share of China's search market, but its reach is limited by its focus on Chinese-language searching. It has attempted to compete against its rivals through deals with major international players. In October, Viacom's MTV Networks and Nickelodeon said it will make 15,000 hours of theirÂ content available in China via Baidu Web site. That included both English and Chinese-language programs, including Nickelodeon's "Sponge Bob Square Pants" and MTV's "Pimp My Ride," along with programs produced locally for Chinese audiences. Viacom does, however, have similar arrangements with Google and AOL. Financial terms of the deal with Microsoft were not disclosed.