【英语中国】谷歌：中国业务前景依然不明朗

Noting that the Chinese government can 'arbitrarily decide' the level of service Google Inc. can provide in China, the company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said 'we don't know' if what seems to have been a relatively minor disruption of Google's search availability in China Thursday was evidence of that government power.

Thursday's blockage was apparently the first incident of note affecting Google's services since the company obtained a license earlier in July to continue what have long been controversial operations in China. Google said Friday its search services in China are fully or mostly accessible.

Speaking Friday to The Wall Street Journal editorial page and news editors, Mr. Schmidt recounted some of the circumstances that led the company to first remove its technical operations from China to Hong Kong, and then later reach an agreement with the Chinese government that allows limited Google searches on the mainland Chinese Web page, with the ability to link to the Hong Kong site's much broader offerings.

The cyber attacks late last year against Google in China were a 'wake-up call to Google and other American companies' and were quite sophisticated in nature, Mr. Schmidt said. The source of the attack is still under investigation, and Google has provided information to U.S. law enforcement authorities.

Mr. Schmidt later said he was an advocate of entering the China market, figuring it was better to engage even if Google had to operate with restrictions. That decision was reversed because of an accumulation of events. 'Day-to-day stuff just drove us crazy,' he said.

Mr. Schmidt said China is the only nation that practices 'active censorship' of the Internet, though other countries block certain Internet sites.

In response to a question, Mr. Schmidt said there was 'no evidence' typical Chinese Internet users were fearful to use Google.

On other topics, Mr. Schmidt said in five years most consumers of newspapers would be reading on digital devices smarter and faster than the ones in use today. Google is widely rumored to be working on products in this area. Mr. Schmidt said, 'watch this space.'

Those readers will be able to access news targeted to them, based in part on information they decide to provide. The serendipitous experience of current newspaper reading could be recreated, and there will be much more video. In addition, he said, readers will have the ability to go 'arbitrarily deep' on a subject.

A combination of targeted advertising and subscription fees will be the basis of this future news business, Mr. Schmidt said, adding that brands will remain important for readers to sort through the overwhelming amount of news and information. The question is whether current or not-yet-created brands will dominate.

Looking at the world of social networking, Mr. Schmidt said Facebook was 'already a company of consequence' and repeated his view that Google isn't out to copy it since the world doesn't need another version of Facebook.

When Google was on the rise, its founders famously said one of its goals was 'don't be evil.' Asked Friday how Google was holding up to that aspiration, Mr. Schmidt said a Google critic would be better placed to answer. He then said the company has done 'generally well,' adding that the company has made a few mistakes. China is a notable one, he said.

When Google entered China, the company said it would revisit its decision, Mr. Schmidt said, 'and we have revisited it.'

在指出中国政府能“肆意决定”谷歌（Google Inc.）在华所能提供的服务级别后，该公司首席执行长施密特（Eric Schmidt）说，“我们不知道”上周四谷歌在华搜索功能看似相对较小的一次中断事故是否是这一政府权力的体现。

自谷歌7月初获得网络许可、得以继续长期来具有争议的中国业务后，上周四的被封事件显然是头一回影响到谷歌的服务。该公司上周五说，其在华搜索服务已全部或大部分恢复正常。

施密特上周五向《华尔街日报》社论版和新闻版的编辑们详细讲述了致使谷歌对在华业务作出一系列调整的部分背景，从最初将技术业务从大陆移至香港，后来又与中国政府达成协议，允许谷歌大陆网页提供有限制性的搜索，而能跳转至香港网页，进而获得更广泛的搜索结果。

施密特说，去年年底针对谷歌在华业务发生的网络攻击为谷歌和其他美国公司敲响了警铃，这些事件本身极其复杂。攻击来源目前仍在调查中，谷歌已将相关信息提供给美国执法部门。

施密特随后说，他支持进入中国市场，认为即便谷歌不得不应对种种限制，最好也还是要积极应对。不过频频发生的各种事件改变了这一决定。“日常事件把我们都弄疯了，”他说。

施密特说，中国是唯一对互联网实行“主动监管”的国家。而其他国家只会屏蔽某些特定网站。

施密特在回答一个问题时说，没有迹象表明普通中国网民害怕使用谷歌。

谈到其他话题时施密特说，五年后多数读报的人将使用比今天更为智能也更加快速的的数字设备。有很多传言说，谷歌正在研发这一领域的产品。对此施密特的回答是：关注这一领域。

这些读者将能看到专门针对他们提供的新闻，这在一定程度上依赖于他们决定提供的信息。如今这种偶然性的读报体验将被重建，还会有更多的视频内容。此外，他还说，读者今后可以就某一主题进行任意深度的探寻。

施密特说，针对性广告和订阅费的结合将成为未来新闻业的基础。他还说，读者在对浩如烟海的新闻和信息进行搜索和整理时，品牌依然是重要因素。问题在于目前、或是尚未建立的品牌能否占据主导。

在谈到社交网络时施密特说，Facebook已然是一个重要的公司，他重申了谷歌不会复制Facebook的观点，因为这个世界不需要另外一个版本的Facebook。

当谷歌处于上升期时，其创建者在谈到谷歌的目标时有一句名言：不作恶。在被问到谷歌是如何达到这一期望时施密特说，谷歌批评人士或许更适合回答这个问题。他随后指出，谷歌做的“大体上不错”，只是犯了少许错误，中国是明显的一个。

谷歌进入中国时，它说将来会回看这一决定是否正确，施密特说，我们回看了。