14 DAY TRIAL // China is not exactly renowned for its strict copyright law enforcement. Counterfeit watches, sneakers, DVDs, consumer electronics, you name it, have been coming out of the country for years. Rip-off search engines are an innovation, but if there's someone to take counterfeiting to the next level, it’s the enterprising people from the biggest country online. Goojje.com shares more than a similar URL with Google, the entire site bears a striking resemblance to Google's local search engine, whose days may be numbered.
The site launched about two weeks ago, strangely close to the time Google announced it planned to drop censorship in China even at the expense of leaving the country. Goojjie borrows from the design principles of its muse with a rather Spartan look with the logo and search box front and center.
The logo looks rather familiar though it could be just a coincidence. The first three letters are rather similar to Google's own logo but things are completely different from then on as instead of the expected “g,” there is a stylized dog paw with a “j” inside. The paw also has a strong sense of deja vu about it. The leading Chinese search engine and Google's biggest rival in the market also has a paw for a logo but has the letters “du” inside, clearly different from the one Goojje uses.
The site has only just launched but it seems it has already attracted 40,000 visitors. Goojje had a message at one point reading "Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister," which seems to have been changed now. "The Chinese website replaced the last three letters of Google with 'jje,' which rhymes with the Chinese word for older sister, while 'gle' sounds like the Chinese word for older brother," The Chosun Ilbo writes.
Google declined to comment on the matter and, for what it's worth, Google Translate doesn't seem too cooperative either when trying to make sense of some of the messages on Goojje.com. "Gu sister born for peace, the sister network of the world will be because of the emergence of a harmonious valley, there are no longer lonely valley sister buddies," the translated phrase reads.
