Recent reports revealed that the American tech giant Google has found an unlikely ally in the company's bid to return to one of the world biggest tech market, China. The Chinese search company Sogou recently said that it is willing to lend a helping hand towards Google as the latter plans to launch a censored search engine in China. The project dubbed "Dragonfly" has been in the works for quite some time already, and reports have revealed that Google is keen into implementing it.
In an interview with the MIT Technology Review, Sogou Chief Executive Officer Wang Xiaochuan said that he is willing to help Google reestablish itself in China. Among the services offered by the CEO is to help Google navigate through China's intricate government regulation which is considered by many as one of the strictest in the world.
Wang said that should Google try to reenter the Chinese search engine market, it will be to the company's best intention to work with domestic and locally established companies. With this in mind, Sogou said that it can help Google tread the complexities of Chinese tech regulations.
In 2010, Google decided to leave the Chinese tech market after it discovered a cyber-attack that targeted human rights activists. During that time, Google is committed to establishing its search engine as completely free and shunned all censorship request from the Chinese government.
It was reported in August that Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai had a change of heart regarding its stance towards China. In its effort to tap China's massive tech market, Google decided that some compromise should be appropriate. As such, many reports have confirmed that Google is working on a censored version of its search engine in order to conform to all of China's censorship requirement.
Sogou is widely considered as China's second largest search engine with Baidu sitting on top of the list. Mr. Wang said that while Google's technology is still considered to be the best, the same cannot be said with Google's knowledge about the Chinese market. He added that Google still lacks capabilities when it comes to Chinese search functions.
Last week, Google finally confirmed its plans for the Chinese market. A decision that has been received critically by many sectors.
Google chief privacy officer Keith Enright have recently told senators that the company is still far-fetched when it comes to launching its search engine In China. While Mr. Enright confirms the existence of Project Dragonfly, he did not provide any specifics.
