According to the New York Times, China has just blocked all access to Google services - including search, maps, and Gmail - due to a once-per-decade meeting of the Communist Party Congress, where new government leadership is appointed. It is unclear just how long access will be blocked for, but it will certainly mean that Google will take a hit in ad revenue this month. It is also unclear whether it is just the core user services that are being blocked, or if all of Google's ad servers are being blocked as well. If the latter is true, that could mean trouble not only for Google, but for any websites in China that get a significant portion of their revenue from AdSense.
All in all, I don't expect that this will cause a major impact on Google's overall revenues and profits, but it is just the latest in a long line of events which highlight the troubled relationship they have with the Chinese government. China is a huge, attractive market for a company such as Google, but with such unpredictable government policies, it is proving difficult for a company which prides itself on providing free access to information to operate there. Still, China shows no sign of changing its policies anytime soon, so if Google intends to capture any of that market, it will have to continue to play by their rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment