Adam Jiwan

Sometimes, listening to the customer means aggravating other customers. When that happens, a brand has to decide which is more valuable: acquiescing to one group or kowtowing to the demands of another. Often, companies go back and forth with these kinds of decisions. Such is the case for Google, which had waffled a bit on whether or not to provide a “censored search” version of its web search program specifically for China. 

Some time back, when it was rumored that Google might be censoring its search results at the behest of the Chinese government, American consumers protested, saying the internet should remain a place that promoted the free exchange of ideas. 

Other groups, including many human rights groups put pressure on Google, saying that, by acquiescing to China’s restrictions, the company was propping up a regime that didn’t have a very good record protecting human rights. These campaigns stung Google, as protesters convinced some shareholders to push Google to leave China. Eventually, in 2010, the company did close down search products in China. 

But, for some years now, it’s been a very open “secret” that Google wanted back in. For China, the rules of the game haven’t shifted all that much. If Google wanted to be able to have access to the massive Chinese consumer base, the company had to play by the country’s rules.Now, it looks like that desire to crack the Chinese market has motivated Google to try again. According to multiple media reports, the Google is working on mobile search engine that will meet all the strict guidelines set by the Chinese government censors. While Google has yet to confirm these reports, many different news agencies continue to report the story. 

So, this puts Google back in the same position that contributed to the company ceasing search operations in China back in 2010. What’s changed that may have motivated Google to take this consumer PR risk again? Over the past few years, the company has been making investments in cooperative efforts with Chinese tech operations, both to get a foothold in China and to broaden its consumer appeal in a country that often prefers using homegrown tech. This has allowed Google to expand in a country where two of Google’s top products, Gmail and YouTube, are still essentially blocked. 

As for whether or not these considerations will work in Google’s favor this time, the jury is still out. If the company is, indeed, working on a censored version of its search engine, it will likely face the same questions and pressures as last time… They better come up with a more convincing PR response this time around, or it could be déjà vu all over again.

About the Author: Adam Jiwan is an entrepreneur.