2012年 01月 12日 12:11
谷歌準備放低姿態開拓中國市場
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年前因與中國政府在審查制度上產生爭議而將服務器撤出中國內地的谷歌公司如今更新了其在內地的業務擴張計劃。谷歌承認﹐公司無法承擔缺席世界上最大的互聯網市場的代價。
Bloomberg News
谷歌聯合創始人布林(Sergey Brin)在公司與中國政府出現“沖突”時曾說﹐他力主谷歌採取反審查的態度。布林說﹐中國審查互聯網和壓制異己的努力讓他想起了前蘇聯的“極權主義”。布林出生在前蘇聯。
阿利格瑞在一次採訪中說﹐尤其值得一提的是﹐谷歌正在指望利用其快速增長的應用於移動設備的安卓手機操作系統謀求移動設備、在線廣告和產品搜索服務在中國的增長。
他說﹐谷歌的目標之一就是將安卓市場引入中國﹐安卓市場為安卓平台的智能手機和平板電腦用戶提供數千款移動應用﹐但是在中國目前還無法使用。
公司還在努力通過一些無需經過官方審查的服務贏得中國顧客﹐該服務於9月啟動﹐目的是幫助人們搜索提供當地商戶折扣的網站。谷歌還在努力加強其產品搜索服務﹐幫助用戶從網上的零售商中找到需要的商品。
中國官員對於發表評論的請求沒有做出回應。
在其宣佈不再依照中國法律審查其互聯網搜索結果並退出中國兩週年之際﹐谷歌正快馬加鞭為其新的計劃做準備。
谷歌公司在2010年1月12日宣佈的決定和該公司和其他西方科技企業長期服從中國當局的做法迥然不同。當時許多中國人認為此舉意味著谷歌將徹底從中國撤出。
在谷歌公開表示﹐發生在2009年的網絡入侵是中國黑客所為之後﹐一場圍繞著審查制度的大戲拉開帷幕。這些黑客竊取了谷歌公司專有的電腦代碼並試圖監視中國民主活動分子的Gmail賬戶。中國官員否認與該事件有關。
谷歌隨後停止了在其中文網站Google.cn上提供搜索服務﹐並將用戶導航至無需服從政府審查要求的香港搜索站。
但是對於中國內地的用戶來說﹐香港的搜索引擎以及包括郵件在內的其他的谷歌服務因受政府的網絡過濾系統影響﹐總是故障不斷。
谷歌聯合創始人布林(Sergey Brin)在公司與中國政府出現“沖突”時曾說﹐他力主谷歌採取反審查的態度。瞭解當時討論情況的人說﹐布林的看法壓倒了時任谷歌首席執行長施密特(Eric Schmidt)及其他人的觀點﹐後者起初認為谷歌應保持在中國的發展策略。
布林當時接受本報採訪時說﹐中國審查互聯網和壓制異己的努力讓他想起了前蘇聯的“極權主義”。布林出生在前蘇聯。他還說﹐對於中國的一些政策特別是審查方面的政策﹐我個人感覺很受困擾。
谷歌2005年在中國設立首個辦事處﹐在決定停止審查搜索結果後﹐谷歌關閉了很多在中國的重要功能﹐但表示永遠不放棄中國市場。目前谷歌在中國內地仍有500多名員工﹐其中300多人都是技術人員。
阿利格瑞說﹐如今隨著安卓業務在中國的增長以及更多中國公司希望在網上投放廣告﹐讓谷歌掉轉航向並在中國增加投資對布林及谷歌聯合創始人兼CEO佩奇(Larry Page)來說是個很“務實”的決定。
阿利格瑞說﹐中國有很大的商機﹐他們也意識到了這一點。
據政府統計﹐截至去年9月底﹐中國互聯網用戶總數超過5億。
谷歌此舉正值中國互聯網業處於關鍵時期。儘管中國內地的網絡內容普遍受到政府審查﹐但互聯網卻日益成為中國民眾分享信息、表達不滿(包括對政府的不滿)的渠道。由於中國將在今年開始10年一次的領導換屆﹐有關互聯網審查的緊張態勢目前有所加劇。
與 Twitter類似的新浪微博等微博服務提供商已成為中國網友對爭議性話題交換看法、共享信息的廣受歡迎的平台﹐而谷歌卻被晾在一旁。據花旗集團 (Citigroup Inc.)一份分析報告顯示﹐來自中國的收入目前佔谷歌總營收的比例不超過2%﹐預計谷歌2011年總營收將超過400億美元。
北京市場研究機構易觀國際(Analysys International)表示﹐谷歌在中國網絡搜索市場中所佔份額從2009年第四季度的36%大跌至2011年第三季度的17.2%﹐而這些失去的市場份額主要流向了競爭對手百度。
相關報導
阿利格瑞說﹐儘管如此﹐中國內地網民使用谷歌進行互聯網搜索的次數在過去兩年仍有所增加。阿利格瑞目前常駐東京﹐不過經常到北京和上海出差。從理論上說﹐搜索次數的增加有助於提振谷歌的搜索廣告業務﹐不過谷歌發言人拒絕對此事置評。
此外﹐谷歌還有業務是幫助中國廣告商鎖定數千個非谷歌網站和移動應用程序上的互聯網用戶(包括中國海內外用戶)﹐這些業務也出現了增長。
阿利格瑞說﹐總體而言﹐和2010年相比﹐谷歌去年在中國的收入有所上升。但他不願透露具體數字。阿利格瑞又說﹐考慮到已經發生的那些事﹐我們實際上對業務在中國的進展感到高興。
據易觀國際透露﹐2011年上半年﹐谷歌在中國在線廣告市場的份額穩定在7%左右﹐與2010年二季度的10.9%相比有所下降。
咨詢公司BDA China Ltd董事長克拉克（Duncan Clark）說﹐人們往往認為谷歌退出了中國﹐但中國市場並沒有遠離谷歌。這裡克拉克指的是想要接觸全球客戶的中資企業依然需要谷歌的廣告服務。
克拉克又說﹐儘管時常出現中斷﹐但中國一些互聯網用戶仍然在忍受使用谷歌產品的種種不便﹐這些產品包括谷歌地圖和Gmail郵箱。
如果谷歌如期完成對摩托羅拉移動公司（Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.）125億美元的收購案﹐那麼谷歌將擁有中國市場上最大的一個移動設備銷售商。
谷歌也希望能從安卓(Android)系統上盈利。據易觀國際的數據﹐中國近60%的智能手機搭載的是安卓操作系統。
在中國使用的安卓手機沒有自帶搜索引擎或應用程序商店“安卓市場”（Android Market）等谷歌官方服務。阿利格瑞說﹐谷歌還在與中國市場的多位伙伴（可能是指中國的無線網絡運營商）商談運營安卓市場一事﹐但他說目前還沒有消息可以透露。
引入“安卓市場”服務可能會給谷歌帶來一些審查問題。中國的安卓設備目前使用的非谷歌官方應用程序商店會過濾掉違反中國監管規定的應用程序。
谷歌同中國政府有關部門的關係仍然不夠穩定。谷歌在2011年6月曾宣稱位於中國的黑客曾試圖侵入美國政府高官、中國人權活動人士和其他人的Gmail賬戶﹐這相當於是在指責中國政府。
中國外交部發言人當時表示﹐這種指控“不可接受”。但幾個月後﹐中國政府卻更新了谷歌在內地的互聯網牌照。中國指責谷歌和美國利用網絡自由問題干涉其內政。
一位知情人士說﹐自2009年成功發起攻擊以來﹐谷歌的系統就多次成為中國黑客的攻擊目標。但專家說﹐這並不一定意味著政府參與其中。阿利格瑞拒絕置評。
前谷歌中國多位員工感嘆谷歌在中國地位下降。2009年離職的前谷歌中國總裁李開復說﹐谷歌中國所希望實現的目標正在由微博實現﹐這證明接觸才是正確的做法。
Amir Efrati / Loretta Chao
Google Softens China Stance
Google Inc., which pulled its Web-search engine out of mainland China two years ago after a confrontation with Chinese authorities over censorship, has renewed its push to expand there, in an acknowledgment that it can't afford to miss out on the world's biggest Internet market.The Web-search giant is hiring more engineers, salespeople and product managers in China and working to introduce new services for Chinese consumers, according to Daniel Alegre, Google's top executive in Asia.
In particular, Google is aiming to capitalize on its fast-growing Android operating system for mobile devices, online-advertising and product-search services to grow in China, Mr. Alegre said in an interview.
One goal, he said, is to introduce its Android Market, which offers thousands of mobile applications to users of Android-powered smartphones and tablets but isn't available in China.
The company also is trying to win over Chinese consumers with services that don't require official censorship, such as Shihui, which launched in September to help people search among Chinese sites offering discounts at local stores. Google is also working to beef up its product-search service to help consumers find goods from online retailers.
Chinese officials didn't respond to request for comment.
Google is revving up its new push near the two-year anniversary of its declaration that it would stop censoring its Internet-search results in China, as required by local law, and that it was prepared to leave the country altogether.
The Jan. 12, 2010 announcement represented a stark departure from the policy of compromising with Chinese authorities that Google and other Western technology companies had long followed. And it was perceived by many Chinese as marking Google's total withdrawal from the country.
The censorship fracas began after Google disclosed it had traced a 2009 cyberattack back to Chinese hackers, who allegedly stole some of the company's proprietary computer code and attempted to spy on Chinese activists' Gmail accounts. Chinese officials denied any connection to the incident.
Google subsequently stopped offering Web search on its main Chinese site, Google.cn, and instead directed people to a search site based in Hong Kong, which isn't subject to the same government censorship requirements.
But for users in mainland China, the Hong Kong search site, along with other Google services such as Gmail, are plagued with frequent service disruptions, because of the government's Web-filtering system.
Company co-founder Sergey Brin said at the time of the clash that he pushed for the company to take an anti-censorship stance. He prevailed over then-Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and others, who initially felt Google should stay the course in China, people familiar with those discussions have said.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal back then, Mr. Brin said China's efforts to censor the Web and suppress dissidents reminded him of the 'totalitarianism' of the Soviet Union, where he was born. 'In some aspects of their policy, particularly with respect to censorship,' he added, 'I find that personally quite troubling.'
While Google, which opened its first China office in 2005, shut down many key functions there following its decision to stop censoring search results, it says it never abandoned the country. It still has more than 500 employees there, including more than 300 engineers.
Now, with Android's growth in China and with more Chinese companies looking to advertise online, Google decision to reverse course and invest more in China is a 'pragmatic' one for Mr. Brin and fellow co-founder Larry Page, who is Google's current CEO, said Mr. Alegre.
'There is a very large business opportunity in China and they recognize it,' he said.
Overall, China had more than 500 million Internet users as of September, according to government statistics.
Google's move comes at a pivotal time for China's Internet industry. Despite the prevalence of government censorship, the Web is increasingly an outlet for Chinese citizens to share information and express discontent, including about the government, amid heightened tensions ahead of the country's once-a-decade leadership transition this year.
Twitter-like microblogging services such as Sina Corp.'s Weibo have become popular platforms for sharing and opinions and information about controversial topics, even as Google sat on the sidelines. China currently accounts for no more than 2% of Google's total revenue, which is expected to reach more than $40 billion for 2011, according to a Citigroup Inc. analysis.
Google's share of China's web-search market declined to 17.2% in the third quarter of 2011 from 36% in the fourth quarter of 2009, largely to the benefit of rival Baidu Inc., according to Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm.
Still, the number of Google Web searches by mainland Chinese Internet users rose over the past two years, said Mr. Alegre, who is based in Tokyo and frequently visits Beijing and Shanghai. Such a gain would theoretically help boost Google's search-advertising business, though a company spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
Separately, the company has seen growth in its services that help Chinese advertisers target Internet users -- both inside and outside of China -- on thousands of non-Google websites and mobile apps.
Overall, Google's revenue in China rose in last year, compared with 2010, Mr. Alegre said, though he declined to go into specifics. 'If you look at what has transpired, we're actually very happy with the way our business is progressing' in China, he said.
Google's share of the Chinese online-ad market stabilized at around 7% during the first half of 2011, according to Analysys, down from 10.9% in the second quarter of 2010.
'People tend to think Google quit China, but China didn't quit Google,' said Duncan Clark, chairman of consulting firm BDA China Ltd, referring to Google's advertising services for Chinese companies who want reach people around the globe.
He added that some Chinese Web users 'still put up with the frustration of using Google,' including Google Maps and Gmail, despite the disruptions.
If it completes its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., as expected, Google will own one of China's largest sellers of mobile devices.
Google also wants to make money from Android, which powers nearly 60% of smartphones in China, according to Analysys.
The phones there don't come with official Google services like the company's search engine or the Android Market app store. Mr. Alegre said Google continues discuss carrying Android Market 'with various players in the market' -- likely Chinese wireless providers -- but that he had nothing to announce.
Introducing Android Market could pose some censorship issues for Google. Non-Google app stores that currently run on China-based Android devices filter out apps that violate Chinese regulations.
Google's relations with some arms of the Chinese government have remained rocky. In effect, it pointed the figure at the government in June 2011, when it announced that China-based parties had been trying to gain access to the Gmail accounts of senior U.S. officials, human-rights activists and others.
Such allegations are 'unacceptable,' a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said at the time. Several months later, however, China renewed Google's license to operate a website in the country. China has accused Google and the U.S. of using Internet freedom issues to meddle in its internal affairs.
A person familiar with the matter has said Google's systems have been repeatedly targeted by China-based hackers since the successful attack in 2009, though this doesn't necessarily imply government involvement, experts say. Mr. Alegre declined to comment.
Many former Google China employees lament Google's diminished status in the country. 'What we hoped to accomplish with Google China is now being realized by Weibo,' proving that 'engagement is the right approach,' said former Google China chief Kai-Fu Lee, who left the company in 2009.
Amir Efrati / Loretta Chao
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