Google Stands Up to China as Other Firms Stand Down

One possible reading of Google's confrontation with China is that it can afford to walk away from the world's largest growth market because it has relatively little at stake there. It generates about $300 million of its annual $22 billion in revenue from the China market. If Google reaped billions of dollars in revenue from China, as Intel and Cisco do, it would have responded to the cyber attacks in a similarly nonconfrontational manner.

Here's another possible reading. Google's economic interests in China are more substantial than they appear at first glance. The company is risking something beyond current revenue. It's risking potential future revenue growth, and that is worth a lot. It's willing to take that risk because it has the confidence and vision of a true leader in its market. It also was motivated by a senior management that understands the long-term value of its brand, critical to the company's identity and market power, would be enhanced by taking a principled stand against censorship of suspected Chinese dissidents on its network. Google leadership understands that freedom of expression has been a core value of Internet users since the beginning, and that Google's reputation and relationship to its market will be strengthened by embracing and defending those values.

Co-founder Sergey Brin, who reportedly led the response to the cyber attacks, has added substance to the company's mission of making knowledge "universally accessible and useful" and to its motto "don't be evil." Google may lose some revenue in China, but if that turns out to be the case, it will reap benefits as business experts and journalists rank the world's most respected companies. The fact that Internet users in China are laying flowers and candles at Google's doorstep in Beijing suggests that Google's long-term interests in that market are safe because it has strengthened its bond with the people of China even if it has put itself in conflict with China's regime.