Google’s Chinese troubles are over — for now

Google fans living in the shadow of the Great Firewall are breathing sighs of relief today, after the Beijing government agreed to let the U.S. search and ad giant continue to do business in China.

(I’m sure the Googlers ordered up some beef brisket in Wikipedia flavor for everyone to celebrate.)

[ Also on InfoWorld: Check out Google’s Chinese acrobatics and Net neutrality, and Cringely points out that Google’s Wi-Fi spygate is its BP moment. | Stay up to date on all Robert X. Cringely’s observations with InfoWorld’s Notes from the Underground newsletter. ]

Apparently, that silly website dipsy-doodle Google pulled last week — putting up a splash search billboard on Google.cn, but still redirecting all search queries to the uncensored Google.com.hk — was enough for Chinese officials and Google to save face, even though the only difference between the .cn and .hk sites is that the Hong Kong engine shows you what sites the Chinese are blocking.

This move allows Google to maintain some presence in China for its music, translation, and shopping services. Still, it’s a little like letting Ford or GM do business on the mainland but only allowing them to sell cup holders and floor mats. Or letting them to display pictures of cars, but not allow you to drive them.

Still, for Google, any piece of the Chinese Internet — which already exceeds the United States in user population and still has a long way to go — is better than no piece. What I don’t understand is, what’s in it for China? The only conclusion I can reach is Google just isn’t that important to them.

While Google is a big deal here in the U.S. market, it’s more like Bing in China. Baidu controls nearly two-thirds of the Chinese search market, and Google’s share is dropping. Aside from the embarrassment caused by what became an international incident (at least, from the U.S. perspective), the Chinese simply may not care that much.

Since Google is a darling of the Obama administration, Beijing may simply want to keep relations smooth with the boys and girls in D.C. — especially before the as-yet-unscheduled U.S. visit from President Hu Jintao.

It could also mean Beijing eventually plans to impose the same Internet restrictions on Hong Kong that it does on the mainland, so it will get around to swatting that pesky little .hk search site in time as well.

A bigger question for me is, what about the hack last December that got Google’s hackles up in the first place? At the time, Google was pretty adamant Beijing authorities were behind the sophisticated security breach, which apparently targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents. This whole “principled stand” Google was allegedly taking was in response to that hack. Right?

China pointed the finger at some overly “patriotic” students at two of its technical universities — but come on! Are we expected to believe they acted all on their own? I’m finding that harder to swallow than week-old lo mein. You know in 30 minutes China will be hungry to hack Google some more.

Bottom line: Nothing really has changed. Google search results are still being censored, only it’s one step removed. Google still clings to only a fraction of the Chinese market. The Great Firewall remains intact without getting a scratch on it. And China surely is up to its usual cyber espionage tricks, which are well documented.

Then again, maybe this was all just another elaborate April Fools prank. If so, well played, Google. You sure had me fooled.

Should U.S. companies do business with a government that censors the Internet and spies on them? Do they have any real choice? Weigh in below or email me: cringe@infoworld.com.

This story, “Google’s Chinese troubles are over — for now,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Robert X. Cringely’s Notes from the Field blog.