Who will blink first, Google or the Chinese government. Most likely it won’t be the Chinese government. Like a high stakes poker game, the Chinese are tightening their grip on censorship through the search engine.

In turn, Google has alluded to perhaps pulling out of China altogether. Google is pushing for more openness and less restrictions. On the other hand, unlike in the U. S., Google is the biggest or most used search engine in town.

Baidu is the largest and most used search engine in China. It is robust and even offers features that Google doesn’t. One such example is Baidu knows which combines message board features such as asking questions to other registered users and having them answer. Baidu has also been used in China since 2000 and Google.cn has only been around since 2006.

So, while Google doesn’t have the kind of leverage as the only game in town would in another country, it does has some leverage as the U. S. government is also trying to negotiate on Google’s behalf. But, not only would Baidu benefit from a Google pullout but Bing is waiting in the wings with a tiny portion of the Chinese search market that could expand rather quickly if there is indeed a hole to fill.

Filed under: Google