Google Tries to Calm Misgivings
Adam Jiwan, Technology Entrepreneur
Google, like just about every American tech company, desperately wants a foothold in China. The opportunity is simply too big to ignore, so the company is doing what it can to meet the stricter internet guidelines that rule the Chinese market. Those efforts, though, have drawn scorn and misgivings from market watchers, employees, and consumers.
These groups and individuals believe Google is sacrificing too much in considering placing speech restrictions on its search products to make Chinese censors happy. In an effort to stop this line of thinking before the narrative gets too far out of control, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently held a town hall style meeting to answer questions and calm fears.
The main topic of conversation was the admission that Google is “not close to launching” a search product in China. He added, according to media reports: “Whether we would do so, or could do so is all very unclear… the team has been in an exploration stage for quite a while now and I think they are exploring many options.”
That explanation was a mixed bag for many critics. They saw the issue not as an ethical choice by Google but as a logistical issue that had yet to be circumvented. Let’s break the statement down to see what was communicated:
“Google is not close to launching…” That seems to mean they want to, which is fairly common knowledge. But then Pichai says it’s unclear whether they would do so. Now, that’s somewhat contradictory, especially since he said the team is currently in an “exploration stage”. Clearly, there’s some intent there, even if it’s just to figure out their options. If they didn’t want to make that move, it would be pretty surprising. No reason to pretend otherwise or to try to dilute the intent by saying the team is “exploring many options.”
At this point, it seems the company’s message is in direct response to rumors and reports that Google was already working on a search engine for China that would “block certain websites” in an effort to “comply with Chinese government censorship. Since those reports came out, at least 1,400 employees have signed a letter demanding more transparency: “To make ethical choices, Googlers need to know what we're building. Right now, we don't…”
So… at least according to the letter, someone at Google is building something that, apparently, seems like a search engine, at least according to the people working on it. Given the number of people involved, Google’s window for playing coy on this will close fast.
Adam Jiwan is a technology entrepreneur. He’s a member of the Forbes Technology Council.
