It is absolutely amazing what Google has done in China. Absolutely amazing.

Google has pulled out of China. Their reason? They can no longer support the Chinese government’s censorship of their search engine particularly having to do with democracy.

Google entered the Chinese market in 2006 saying that their presence in this Communist- sort-of- in-a-weird-way country would encourage freedom of speech. Four years later they are saying their dream to change this insulated country is not coming to fruition and instead, they will board up their windows, a statement/action they believe is far more effective  at this point.

I applaud Google for this brave business move and heroic ethical repositioning.

Critics of course are saying that Google does not make a lot of money in the Chinese market, so pulling out of the country was not a big deal. That is nonsense. Every businessman involved in export, manufacturing and many service-oriented companies are doing business in China. Manufacturing is indeed drying up around the world so that companies can cut the cost of their per-piece items, keep their margins high but costs low.

In short, China is the Toys-R-Us of the business world and if you’re not there, then you are on the outside of ‘what’s happening’ in the circle of potential profit. While Google’s profits in China were a few percentage points of all their business in Asia and the world, those  numbers still are significant.

China has 1.325 billion people. It is a country with a strong e-savvy and propensity for social  networking.

(Read the following on Digital Beat about China and e-profit http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/03/19/the-worlds-most-lucrative-social-network-chinas-tencent-beats-1-billion-revenue-mark/ )

Google has stood  on principal while making a business decision and said very clearly that  freedom of speech is a real value and business needs to reflect its commitment to it, regardless of whether profits suffer or wealth is left by the side of the road.

In an business era that looks more Bernie Madoff in nature and Enron in character, it is refreshing and really quite beautiful to be witness to Google’s decision.

Bing and Yahoo are staying. They ‘abide by the laws of China’ and have no intention of packing up. Google however said to the Chinese and the entire world, there is far more to making money than making money.

How special it would be if other companies followed Google. Hopefully the time will come soon when many companies will recognize that doing business in China means shaking hands with the devil – a country that has an atrocious human-rights record and murderous genocidal history that has never been addressed by its current  government.

Well done Google. I envision their re-entry into China in the next two years, however the statement they made this week – freedom of speech trumps profits – is one which deserves my applause. Indeed today, I bow to Google.

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