Google Falling Off The China Map 谷歌地图：谈判也没用

Just days after I wrote that Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) days in China could be numbered after reports it failed to register its China map service by a previous deadline (previous post), there’s been a flurry of new reports about the world’s largest search engine in China. One of those says that Google has been fined for failing to pay taxes (English article; Chinese article); and another says the company has now entered into talks with Beijing about its China-based mapping service. (Chinese article) What does all the chatter mean? It sounds suspiciously like what happened last year, when Google threatened to pull out of China’s search market, then tried to “negotiate” with Beijing, only to finally pull out anyhow. The message is: Google has pretty much given up on China’s Internet market due to all the rules and regulations, and is most likely to pull out of mapping as well despite any “negotiations.” But it needs to be careful to avoid upsetting Beijing too much at the risk of getting its promising Android mobile operating system kicked out as well.

Bottom line: Google will pull out of the China online mapping market, but its Android franchise will stay in China for now because too much is at stake for both sides.

几 天前，我谈过谷歌在中国的地图服务面临监管困境的问题(文章)。自那以後，又有不少关於谷歌在华最新动向的报导：据称谷歌旗下几家公司因涉嫌逃税而被税务部门处 罚，还有报导说谷歌开始就地图服务问题与中国政府谈判。这 些纷杂的消息意味着什麽？这似乎与去年的情形相似：谷歌先是威胁撤出中国，然後又试图与北京”谈判”，可最终还是被迫撤出。我的感觉是：由於种种监管阻 碍，谷歌基本上已经放弃了中国的互联网市场，无论”谈判”与否，最终很有可能会停止地图服务。但它还是要谨慎行事，以免其前程远大的Android操作系 统在华遭受同样命运。

一句话：谷歌将撤出中国在线地图市场，但Android短期之内还不会受影响，因为它对双方来说都太重要了。