Google (GOOG) Tries To Get Into China, But Microsoft (MSFT) Has The Former President's Son

Google (GOOG) is still trying to break the hold that Baidu (BIDU), the Chinese search engine has on its local market. The US company is not having much success.

The Chinese government does not allow uncensored content from Google News, but Baidu has been able to start its own news service. Google cannot use its music search function in China due to copyright laws there. As one analyst pointed out to Reuters: "The media is not an open marketplace in China yet — the state has its own agenda and has a lot of policies to regulate the market," said Edward Yu, president at research firm Analysys International.

Matters get worse in the mobile space. China Mobile (CHL), the world largest cellular company, controls what internet functions will work on its phones and what it will charge for them.

But, Google’s biggest problem in the world’s most populated country may be that it does not have enough "friends". The MSN unit of Microsoft (MSFT) is run as a joint venture in China. And, the head of that JV is the son of China’s former president, Jiang Zemin

Maybe the son of the current president is available.

Douglas A. McIntyre