Google China CEO Confirms Change of Course

諸葛孔明

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

這個轉變很有意思，值得思考。等于繞了一圈。但繞一圈之后，新的起點并不等同于原來的起點。

改革開放初期，外企一開始只是簡單地把他們在西方的經營模式移植到中國。其結果是，有些公司會水土不服。于是，本土化成了一種趨勢。比較成功的是肯德基，它根據中國人的口味對菜譜進行了調整。如果按照美國肯德基菜譜經營的話，估計現在它在中國就混不下去了。

從公司經濟角度來看，本土化不失為一種有效的盈利策略。然而，本土化有時會伴隨價值觀、理念的轉變。肯德基不存在這個問題；它不過是個連鎖餐館。Google就不一樣了。中國化也就是要適應中國國情，這種轉變不可避免地要和谷歌主義發生沖突。

谷歌現在又要掉頭了，從Google China 回到 Google in China，其本質回歸到Google，是去中國化的Google。這一舉動需要勇氣，要冒相當的經濟和政治風險。