Which will allow it to operate Google.cn undeterred

Jul 9, 2010 11:10 GMT  ·  By
Google needs a ICP license which will allow it to operate Google.cn undeterred
   Google needs a ICP license which will allow it to operate Google.cn undeterred

Google is now confident that it will receive its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license from the Chinese government. The issue has risen recently as its current license has expired and China has not approved the renewal request yet. Without the license Google would not be able to operate a commercial website in china, like Google.cn. The company’s CEO Eric Schmidt is as confident as ever that the company will get the approval.

"We would expect we would get the necessary license," Schmidt said, according to Reuters. "We now expect to get renewal," he added, speaking to the audience at the annual Sun Valley industry conference. Schmidt is usually optimistic in this type of scenarios, though, that may just part of the job. Even if the company was unsure or even feared the worst, he would not be making those fears known.

Recently, before regulators approved the AdMob acquisition deal, he expressed similar confidence, despite the general feel and clear indications that the government would be contesting the buy. Still, he was in a much better position to know if the approval was likely or not than media commentators.

Similarly, while the situation seems rather bleak from the outside, the CEO is sure to have a much clearer understanding of what the company faces in China. Yet, the approval, or rejection for that matter, hasn’t come and China is staying characteristically tight-lipped about the issue.

Google made a surprising announcement earlier this year when it said that it would be leaving China if it will not be able to serve uncensored search results in the country. After negotiations failed, Google moved the search engine to its Hong Kong servers. Visitors to Google.cn were automatically redirected to Google.com.hk.

However, this ended a few weeks ago, as it became apparent that Google’s ICP license was up for a renewal. In an effort to please the authorities, it stopped automatically redirecting users and instead put up a landing page inviting Chinese visitors to use the Hong Kong version of the site for searches. Other services it offers in the country, like translation and music downloads, are now hosted at Google.cn once again. The hope is that this will be enough to appease the government, but it remains to be seen.