Wither Google?

Google China's Dragonfly

      Profit
      Penentrating the largest internet market 
          in the world? 
     
      Or,

      Google's Chinese Dragonfly 
        in the ointment of an open internet?

A little foolishness, Sundar Pichai?

Sundar Pichai

I care about servicing users globally in every corner. Google is for everyone. We want to be in China serving Chinese users.

Stepping back, I genuinely do believe we have a positive impact when we engage around the world and I don't see any reason why that would be different in China....very open about our desire to do more in China....not close.. [to launching search in China and whether] is all very unclear.

Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google.

          China has 750 million+ internet users.

          Google had 30% of China's search
                business, behind Baidu, before it
                withdrew from China.

Launch ready state?

Ben Gomes, Pichai's search head, though; is prepping Google to launch Maotai and/or Longfei a custom Chinese Android app, at a short notice.

Maotai and/or Longfei, Google's custom Chinese Android app, factors in China's proscribing, the currently, 92 search terms relating to the Tiananmen Square, 1989 events.

               Blocked by the Great Firewall

               Tiananmen Square, 1989 events
               George Orwell 
               Winnie the Pooh 
               Peppa Pig

Apple's Choice

Profit or the moral high ground?

Each country in the world decides their laws and their regulations.

And so your choice is: Do you participate, or do you stand on the sideline and yell at how things should be?

Tim Cook

Google has been a public champion for the cause of freedom. through an open internet.

Google even funded the development of a tool to help journalists overcome censorship.

And now...

Project Dragonfly:

Google's Mandarin search engine within China's Great Firewall?

Documents seen by The Intercept, marked “Google confidential,” say that Google’s Chinese search app will automatically identify and filter websites blocked by the Great Firewall. When a person carries out a search, banned websites will be removed from the first page of results, and a disclaimer will be displayed stating that “some results may have been removed due to statutory requirements.” Examples cited in the documents of websites that will be subject to the censorship include those of British news broadcaster BBC and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Ryan Gallagher, in The Intercept Google Plans To Launch Censored Search Engine In China, Leaked Documents Reveal

• How does this impact other internet companies seeking to do business in China?

The Mozilla model.

I don't remember any time it rose to the point where we considered leaving China.
There was certainly a degree of backing off from some of your moral high ground in order to operate in China.
Andreas Gal, former Mozilla CTO.

• What stops other countries like India & Brazil demanding their own custom Google?

Is India is tightening the screws on WhatsApp?

The [Indian Law] minister said he was assured by Daniels that WhatsApp "will soon take steps" to comply with New Delhi's demands, which include opening a corporate office and the appointment of a grievance officer in India to act on complaints.

• Will Google not be hacked by PLA Units 61486 & 61398 or other state sponsored patriots?

Was sovereign hacking the real reason why Google left China?

There was lots of pressure to leave and Google did get hacked.
It's hard to do business in a country where elements of the government are attacking you.
Wesley Chan, former Google Ventures partner & Google product lead.

• Have you changed your mind Sergey Brin?

What is the status of uProxy now?

Our objection is to those forces of totalitarianism [in China]
Sergey Brin, on China

PS: Is Brin's superyacht called Dragonfly? 😃

What do you think?