China: Will Bing Pick Up Where Google Left Off?

Posted By: dotCOMreport Editor

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Search engine behemoth, Google, has terminated its Google.cn website and has begun redirecting users to a server in Hong Kong, offering users uncensored search results.  This event has disappointed and angered the Chinese government.

The Chinese government asserts that it was ‘shocked’ by the behavior of the company and has criticized it for violating written promises it had made when entering the Chinese market a few years back.

In contrast, Microsoft is determined to strengthen its position in the Chinese market in the absence of Google and has vowed to advocate for freedom of information over the internet when the need for it arises. In the statement released by Microsoft, the software giant assured Chinese users that it will continue to offer its services in the country and will adhere to the laws of the nation.

Microsoft also made it clear that it has no plans to follow Google out of China and added that “We believe engagement in global markets is important, as an open and healthy Internet involves not only access to information, but access to network connectivity.”

Although Chinese search rival Baidu.cn is certainly expected to benefit from Google’s withdrawal, Bing could also see growth in China, particularly given Motorola’s recent decision to make Bing the default search provider for its Android phones in China. According to StatCounter, a site that reports global web traffic, Bing accounted for just over 0.1 percent of search traffic in China in February, while Google stood at 42 percent and the local Baidu at 56 percent.

It’s important to remember that Yahoo Yahoo, who accounted for 1.35 percent of search traffic,  will soon be incorporating Bing as its search engine. And in fact, the Chinese Yahoo site is not even owned by Yahoo Inc., but was sold to Alibaba Group in 2005. The corporate site of Alibaba, a Hangzhou-based e-commerce company, states that it acquired Yahoo! China that year and assumed management control of Yahoo! China’s operations, and that Yahoo! Inc. invested $1 billion and became a strategic shareholder in Alibaba Group, providing resources to the search site.

Google’s departure from China will provide an opportunity for any of its U.S. competitors, but with Yahoo out of the picture and with Microsoft indicating a willingness to play by China’s rules, the opportunity seems apparent for Bing.

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