The Exit: Google Leaves China

There is a decision made this week, and the decision is the exit: the Monday redirect from google.cn to google.com.hk, the end of the censored search service on the mainland, the principle that was chosen over the market. The decision is the biggest technology story of the week, and the story is the exit: the search engine that left, the users who were redirected, the market that was given up. The questions began that day: would the censored service return, would the business survive without it, would other companies follow the same road. The exit is the March 2010 story, and the story is the lesson: the largest internet market in the world, and the company that walked away from it, the censorship that was refused, the principle that was kept.

The Exit is the subject of this article: what Google did on Monday, how the company reached the decision, why the market was given up, and what the exit means.

1. The Monday Redirect

The redirect is the news, and the news is the Monday: the March 22 announcement on the official Google blog, the traffic from google.cn that began flowing to google.com.hk, the Hong Kong service that sits outside the firewall, the censored search that quietly ended. The redirect is the report: the stories that ran that day, the headlines that said Google leaves China, the end that arrived not with a shutdown but with a change of address, the click that carried users across the border. The redirect is the moment: the search engine that had promised to comply, that had filtered its results, that had served the censored page for years, that finally stopped.

The redirect is also the decision: the other China businesses that will stay, the research and development that continues, the ad sales that keep selling, the Android that keeps growing, the search that is the only part to go. The redirect is the March 2010 context: the announcement in January, the attack that triggered it, the government response in February, the two months of uncertainty, the Monday when the uncertainty ended. The Monday redirect was the end, and the end was the exit: the censored service that was abandoned, the mainland users who were redirected, the door that Google closed on itself.

2. The January Announcement

The announcement is the beginning, and the beginning is January: the January 12 blog post, the post titled A new approach to China, the words that said Google would stop censoring its results. The announcement is the surprise: the company that had accepted the censorship, that had filtered the forbidden words, that had built its business inside the rules, that suddenly said no. The announcement is the warning: the possibility that google.cn might be shut entirely, the threat that the search engine would leave, the question that hung over the whole Chinese market.

The announcement is also the sequence: the February response from the government, the statement that Google must follow Chinese law, the patience that ran out, the weeks of talks that went nowhere. The announcement is the road: the January words that made the Monday inevitable, the position that could not be walked back, the exit that was announced before it happened. The January announcement was the beginning, and the beginning was the commitment: the censorship that would end, the principle that would be kept, the exit that would follow.

3. The Attack

The attack is the trigger, and the trigger is the winter: the sophisticated assault on Google's systems, the intrusion that reached the Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents, the breach that changed everything. The attack is the violation: the accounts that were compromised, the activists who were exposed, the surveillance that the system had enabled, the cost that was finally counted. The attack is the realization: the censorship that was supposed to buy access, that was supposed to keep the service running, that had instead made the company a tool, the tool that the attackers had used.

The attack is also the explanation: the reason Google gave in January, the cause that justified the new approach, the wrong that could not be ignored. The attack is the turn: the moment when compliance stopped looking like a business decision, when the filter started looking like a betrayal, when the exit became thinkable. The attack was the trigger, and the trigger was the change: the systems that were broken into, the accounts that were exposed, the company that decided it would no longer help.

4. The Market

The market is the stakes, and the stakes are the numbers: the roughly 380 million internet users in China, the largest online population in the world, the growth that every company wanted. The market is the share: the thirty five percent of Chinese search that Google held, the sixty percent that belonged to Baidu, the second place that was still worth billions. The market is the promise: the hundreds of millions who would come online, the advertisers who would follow them, the search engine that would be there to meet them.

The market is also the cost: the revenue that the exit gives up, the growth that will now go to the rivals, the analysts who reached for the calculators, the price that was put on principle. The market is the question: the biggest prize in the industry, the company that walked away from it, the value that was weighed against the filter. The market was the stakes, and the stakes were the test: the world's largest internet, and the decision that said some things are worth more.

5. The Censorship

The censorship is the bargain, and the bargain is the service: the google.cn that filtered results, that blocked the forbidden terms, that complied with the rules of the market. The censorship is the history: the years of filtered search, the quiet adjustment of results, the access that was bought with compliance, the service that worked inside the limits. The censorship is the everyday: the queries that were answered, the words that were not, the users who never knew what they were missing, the page that looked complete and was not.

The censorship is also the price: the dissidents whose accounts were watched, the surveillance that the system enabled, the trust that was spent, the line that was crossed in January. The censorship is the refusal: the company that finally said no, that would no longer filter, that would no longer help watch, the bargain that was broken. The censorship was the bargain, and the bargain was the problem: the access that was bought, the price that was paid, the exit that ended the exchange.

6. The Principle

The principle is the choice, and the choice is the exit: the market that was traded away, the censorship that was refused, the surveillance that would not continue. The principle is the statement: the dissident accounts that would not be watched, the results that would not be filtered, the service that would serve honestly or not at all. The principle is the meaning: the company that had everything to gain by staying, that left anyway, the decision that the industry will quote.

The principle is also the cost: the market share that will be lost, the advertisers who will move, the rivals who will celebrate, the price that was paid for the stance. The principle is the bet: the belief that honesty is worth the loss, that the brand survives the exit, that the users will remember who left and why. The principle was the choice, and the choice was the story: the growing market, the refusal, the exit that traded one for the other.

7. The Reaction

The reaction is the news, and the news is the week: the Baidu stock that rose on the report, the rival that gained from the exit, the market that priced the change within a day. The reaction is the debate: the analysts who argued the cost, the bloggers who praised the stance, the price of principle that was counted in public. The reaction is the government: the United States that weighed in, the Secretary of State who had spoken of internet freedom in January, the speech that now seemed aimed at this moment.

The reaction is also the argument: internet freedom against market access, the two values that the exit had placed on the scale, the debate that every company in China will now face. The reaction is the question: who will follow Google, who will stay, who will make the same trade, the question that the week left open. The reaction was the news, and the news was the signal: the stock that rose, the debate that began, the industry that watched and wondered.

8. The Lesson

The lesson is the trade, and the trade is the exit: the growing market that was given up, the principle that was kept, the exchange that the industry will remember. The lesson is the signal: the biggest company in the industry, the largest internet market in the world, the refusal that other companies will weigh. The lesson is the phrase: principle over market, the sentence that will be quoted, the claim that will be tested, the thesis of the coming years.

The lesson is also the question: the users in China who will lose the service, the dissidents who will lose the platform, the internet that will be a little smaller, the freedom that was defended at a distance. The lesson is the March 2010 story, and the story is the lesson: the Monday redirect, the January announcement, the attack that started it, the censorship that was refused, the market that was traded for principle. The exit is the beginning, and the beginning is the question: the companies that will choose, the markets that will test them, the principle that will be weighed against the growth.

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