Google, the world’s most popular search engine and a billion-dollar company unto itself, has been engaged in war for the past two months.  No, they’re not fighting Facebook or Viacom or Apple… well, actually, they are fighting all those industries too, but they’re also engaged in a high-stakes war with the world’s most restrictive country, China.  For two months, Google’s Chinese operations have hung in the balance while the company brawls with Chinese government officials over accusations of cyberterrorism, hacking GMail accounts, and censorship.  Now, Google may be abandoning the Chinese market and an estimated $700 million dollars in revenue there.

Google’s not the biggest search engine in China, but they are growing in that market.  At least check, they held 35% of China’s search engine market versus Baidu, and they were growing every quarter.  They’re leaving a lot of money on the table for a risky gambit.  Experts believe that Google’s refusal to bow to China may help the search engine’s reputation in other Asian countries, where Google lags behind the competition.  Here’s hoping they can strike a blow for Chinese freedom in the process.

Image: io9

Tags: Google, China, Google leaving Chinese market, Google leaving China, Google abandoning China, removing search from China, Google ending GMail in China, hacking, harassment, Baidu, Google versus Chinese Government

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]