Reportedly Google Inc.’s (GOOGL) Gmail has started witnessing some amount of traffic in China after the nation’s censorship mechanism—often referred to as the Great Firewall—pulled the plug on the service.
Background
Just before the 25th anniversary of Beijing’s suppression of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, Google came under censorship in China. Google’s collection of services comprising Gmail, Google+, Gchat and Drive were all banned from China. It was the first time that China had banned Google services to such a great extent.
However, many users had been successful in working around the restrictions by using apps like Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) Apple Mail or Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Outlook to access their accounts via IMAP, POP, and STMP protocols.
With the latest ban, Chinese censors have closed this loophole, leaving virtual private networks (VPNs) as the last remaining route to access Gmail and other blocked services.
On Dec 26, Gmail’s traffic dropped about 85% in China and fell further the following day when it went down to almost zero. However, according to the latest Transparency Report from Google, Gmail has seen a slight uptick in traffic after the complete ban on services for four days in China, one with no explanation.
According to Reuters, Greatfire.org, a China-based anticensorship group, is of the opinion that China may have been responsible for the act. Google spokesman Taj Meadows however clarified that there was nothing wrong at the company’s end.
A state-run daily in China suggested that it was Google’s failure to observe the Chinese law that was to be blamed for the temporary suspension of its popular email service. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing that she wasn’t aware of the matter. She further claimed that the government encouraged foreign businesses to work in China.
Chinese Restrictions Raise Concerns for Foreign Businesses
China has lately been blamed for creating an undesirable environment for U.S. business in general. According to a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 60% of the companies surveyed felt less welcome in China than before and 49% thought that overseas firms were being targeted.
This year, antitrust investigations by the Chinese government have imposed fines against both Microsoft and QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM).
Chinese authorities are known to be very stringent about online content. They have previously blocked or unblocked Internet sites and services without citing proper reasons.
Top Chinese leaders are also keen on expanding the interests of local Internet companies like social-media conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY) and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA).
Google isn't the only company facing the harsh ways of the Chinese government. Foreign services like Facebook Inc (FB)., Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) Inc. and Google’s YouTube are also blocked in China.
Google currently holds a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).