Google is not in Microsoft’s dictionary; and it may be out of China soon, too

I have been working on a report for my Journalism class about Google recent announcement that their days in China may be numbered.

I, like many, was surprised by the announcement. The question I have is why Google would forgo millions of dollars in advertisement revenue and potentially let the second largest search company dominate the world’s largest market of computer users.

Really, I don’t think there is an easy answer to this question. I initially began to wonder if the attacks cited on Google’s blog were as big of a deal as they made them to be. The piece stated that only two Gmail accounts were actually hacked. I am sure that being as large as it is, Google’s systems are constantly under attack. Is this just a ploy to get out of a country they don’t lead in? For the first time, I saw a report which actually discussed the technical nature of the attacks on Google, and suggested that there may be evidence that links the attacks back government entities. If that is the case, Google’s claims begin to make more sense.

I really can’t see a reason this for profit company would want to move out of China unless the conditions really bad, such that business would be an impossible task. I think Google really hopes to put pressure on the Chinese government, have restrictions removed, and then continue its business. Time will tell whether or not things are that easy.

One of the most surprising parts of my project was the strange discovery that the word Google was not in the Microsoft Office 2004 (who buys the upgrades, anyway) dictionary on my computer. While this is of course Microsoft, who is probably not that interested in Google getting big, I was surprised that they were able to totally leave them out of the picture just a few short years ago. Clearly Google has been very successful in its relatively short existence. I think the company has done some wonderful things, but that it needs to be continued to be monitored as its powers grow.