Google China CEO Confirms Change of Course

诸葛孔明

Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) China will introduce a new business strategy, under which it will use its international technology to serve Google users in China -- "not Google China, but Google in China," Google China CEO John Liu said in an interview with CBN Weekly published December 10. Under its new strategy, Google China intends to reduce investment into wholly localized products but continue to offer its global products in China, the report said.

According to an unnamed Google China engineer, employees including tech chiefs and project managers from webpage, maps, mobile search and other teams have left in the past few months, according to the report.

Google China announced in early December that it planned to suspend its free weather forecast short messaging service in 2010.

老郭

这个转变很有意思，值得思考。等于绕了一圈。但绕一圈之后，新的起点并不等同于原来的起点。

改革开放初期，外企一开始只是简单地把他们在西方的经营模式移植到中国。其结果是，有些公司会水土不服。于是，本土化成了一种趋势。比较成功的是肯德基，它根据中国人的口味对菜谱进行了调整。如果按照美国肯德基菜谱经营的话，估计现在它在中国就混不下去了。

从公司经济角度来看，本土化不失为一种有效的盈利策略。然而，本土化有时会伴随价值观、理念的转变。肯德基不存在这个问题；它不过是个连锁餐馆。Google就不一样了。中国化也就是要适应中国国情，这种转变不可避免地要和谷歌主义发生冲突。

谷歌现在又要掉头了，从Google China 回到 Google in China，其本质回归到Google，是去中国化的Google。这一举动需要勇气，要冒相当的经济和政治风险。