Gamer8585
June 29th, 2010, 02:36 PM
From Arstechnica
Google has decided to call off its efforts to redirect all China users to its Hong Kong search site, sort of. Instead of automatically sending searchers straight on to google.com.hk, the search giant once again serves up a Google China home page—complete with a faux search box image that sends users to the Hong Kong site when they click in it.
The change may seem minimal, but Google hopes it will be enough to appease the Chinese government—and to keep its license to operate an Internet business in the country.
Google says it decided to make the change because Chinese officials found the redirect "unacceptable." (Insert expression of shock here.) They told Google that something had to change or China would not renew Google's Internet Content Provider license on June 30—without it, Google won't be able to operate Google's China page at all.
If that happened, Google.cn would simply go dark and not provide searches or redirects to the Hong Kong page. Users who do not go directly to google.com.hk would be left confused, with no guidance about where to go.
Read More... (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/06/google-tweaks-china-to-hong-kong-redirect-same-results.ars)
Basically Google is getting around being shut down in China by putting up a big image on its Google.cn website that looks like Google's search page. When clicked that pic sends users to Google's unfiltered Hong Kong website.
Ok, I appreciate what Google is trying to do here in principle, but is this REALLY the best they could come up with? They're not even to the "phoning it in" level with this.
Google has some of the best tech minds around the world working for it, and an image with a redirect is the best they can do?
Do they think that the Chinese government is stupid? Are they just trying to get a lot of attention internationally when China blocks them?
I can think of dozens of novel and craftier ways to get around the Chinese government's douchebaggary.
For example:
Having a link on the page that says "want more options" when clicked it goes to a page that says that some queries may be filtered in accordance with government regulation and to get unfiltered results go to Google.hk (with the Google.hk being a link to the site).
Or
Having the search portion of China.cn operable, but the .cn server would then just send the query to .hk and then .hk would send the results back.
Or
The .cn server would get all results, filter them out based on Government criteria, but include a "show omitted results" link on the search page. When clicked it would show all results unfiltered.
Even those aren't really all that savvy, but its still far better then the Homepage Pic and link, and those might actually stand a chance of getting past the Government censors for awhile.
Google has decided to call off its efforts to redirect all China users to its Hong Kong search site, sort of. Instead of automatically sending searchers straight on to google.com.hk, the search giant once again serves up a Google China home page—complete with a faux search box image that sends users to the Hong Kong site when they click in it.
The change may seem minimal, but Google hopes it will be enough to appease the Chinese government—and to keep its license to operate an Internet business in the country.
Google says it decided to make the change because Chinese officials found the redirect "unacceptable." (Insert expression of shock here.) They told Google that something had to change or China would not renew Google's Internet Content Provider license on June 30—without it, Google won't be able to operate Google's China page at all.
If that happened, Google.cn would simply go dark and not provide searches or redirects to the Hong Kong page. Users who do not go directly to google.com.hk would be left confused, with no guidance about where to go.
Read More... (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/06/google-tweaks-china-to-hong-kong-redirect-same-results.ars)
Basically Google is getting around being shut down in China by putting up a big image on its Google.cn website that looks like Google's search page. When clicked that pic sends users to Google's unfiltered Hong Kong website.
Ok, I appreciate what Google is trying to do here in principle, but is this REALLY the best they could come up with? They're not even to the "phoning it in" level with this.
Google has some of the best tech minds around the world working for it, and an image with a redirect is the best they can do?
Do they think that the Chinese government is stupid? Are they just trying to get a lot of attention internationally when China blocks them?
I can think of dozens of novel and craftier ways to get around the Chinese government's douchebaggary.
For example:
Having a link on the page that says "want more options" when clicked it goes to a page that says that some queries may be filtered in accordance with government regulation and to get unfiltered results go to Google.hk (with the Google.hk being a link to the site).
Or
Having the search portion of China.cn operable, but the .cn server would then just send the query to .hk and then .hk would send the results back.
Or
The .cn server would get all results, filter them out based on Government criteria, but include a "show omitted results" link on the search page. When clicked it would show all results unfiltered.
Even those aren't really all that savvy, but its still far better then the Homepage Pic and link, and those might actually stand a chance of getting past the Government censors for awhile.