Google: Great Firewall of China
Introduction
Google is widely known as a technology company that created a search engine site proven to be a helpful tool for most people because it helps you find the most relevant answer from the all the websites. This led to their success in the US market and worldwide. However, Google faced numerous criticisms on their business strategy to enter China, a market widely known for its government’s restrictions on content on the Internet, often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China” (As cited in Hoegberg, 2013, para. 2). With potential of long-term financial gain of doing business in China, should Google continue to do business with a market that is in conflict with its business motto?
Google Background
When founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin collaborated on creating a search engine site in 1996, their mission is to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web (“Our History in Depth”,n.d., para. 4 & 5). The company later on received recognition from PC Magazine as the search engine of choice (“Our History in Depth”,n.d., para. 9). Then in 2004, Google, Inc. offered an IPO at $85 and closed at $194 at year-end 2004 reaping the IPO investors a healthy gain (Travlos, 2012, para. 1).
Post-IPO Google, Inc. means finding more sources for revenue for the company. Google ventured outside of the web search engine market by creating applications for mobile, media brosing, home & office, social media and the list goes on and on (“Products”, n.d.) and revenues are generated from online advertising or their own product: Ad words (“Adwords”, n.d., para. 1). With tremendous growth of the company, Google founders have embraced the informal corporate motto “Don’t be evil” and also developed an ethical code of conduct for both internal and external audiences (as cited in Martin, 2006, p. 5).
China Background Martin reports that in 2006 China has a population of 1.6 billion people and is an attractive market for many U.S. companies
Google is widely known as a technology company that created a search engine site proven to be a helpful tool for most people because it helps you find the most relevant answer from the all the websites. This led to their success in the US market and worldwide. However, Google faced numerous criticisms on their business strategy to enter China, a market widely known for its government’s restrictions on content on the Internet, often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China” (As cited in Hoegberg, 2013, para. 2). With potential of long-term financial gain of doing business in China, should Google continue to do business with a market that is in conflict with its business motto?
Google Background
When founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin collaborated on creating a search engine site in 1996, their mission is to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web (“Our History in Depth”,n.d., para. 4 & 5). The company later on received recognition from PC Magazine as the search engine of choice (“Our History in Depth”,n.d., para. 9). Then in 2004, Google, Inc. offered an IPO at $85 and closed at $194 at year-end 2004 reaping the IPO investors a healthy gain (Travlos, 2012, para. 1).
Post-IPO Google, Inc. means finding more sources for revenue for the company. Google ventured outside of the web search engine market by creating applications for mobile, media brosing, home & office, social media and the list goes on and on (“Products”, n.d.) and revenues are generated from online advertising or their own product: Ad words (“Adwords”, n.d., para. 1). With tremendous growth of the company, Google founders have embraced the informal corporate motto “Don’t be evil” and also developed an ethical code of conduct for both internal and external audiences (as cited in Martin, 2006, p. 5).
China Background Martin reports that in 2006 China has a population of 1.6 billion people and is an attractive market for many U.S. companies