Google has launched a music search engine in China that will give users access to free downloads of licensed songs.

After months of negotiations, Google announced last night the new service would be supported by advertising revenue that would be split between the music industry and Chinese music download website Top100.cn.

Google's first music search service will allow internet users in China to search for songs on Google.cn by singer, song or album title and then download and stream licensed music for free.

If successful, the venture could curb the rampant culture of illegal music downloads that has been crippling the growth of the legitimate digital music industry in China, the country with the world's largest number of internet users.

Read more: guardian.co.uk 

Labels: China, downloads, freeware, music

 

Labels: China, New Year

Google buys stake in Tianya.cn, China's third largest social network, as it tries to turn around fortunes in the country

Google has taken a stake in Tianya.cn, the Chinese social networking site, broadening its presence in the world’s second-largest online market.

A spokesman for the search company confirmed that Google has invested in Tianya.cn, but declined to give further details. Reports in China suggested the holding could be as much as 60 per cent.

Full article: timesonline.co.uk 

Labels: China, Network, social

Jul. 16, 2007 (China Knowledge) – A Beijing-based company is suing Google China, a subsidiary of Google Inc, for copying its Chinese name "Guge".

A court in Haidian district of Beijing has accepted the case on Jun. 29. In response to the accusation of promoting itself through the lawsuit, Tian Yunshan, company secretary for Beijing Guge Science & Technology, said that the company had registered with the name "Guge" one month earlier than Google China.

Read more: chinaknowledge.com 

Labels: China, Guge, lawsuit

Discovery of the submarine image is likely to cause consternation within China's military.

Google Inc. is offering a rare public glimpse of China's new ballistic-missile submarine, according to a researcher at the Federation of American Scientists.

"The new submarine was photographed by the commercial Quickbird satellite in late 2006 and the image is freely available on the Google Earth Web site," wrote Hans Kristensen on the Strategic Security Blog.

(Photo Courtesy of Strategic Security Blog)

Full story: pcworld.com 

Labels: China, Earth, missile

Beijing - Leading Chinese internet portal Sina Corp said on Monday it has reached an agreement with Google Inc to cooperate in the areas of searching and advertising.

Under a strategic partnership agreement, Google's search service will be embedded in Sina's search box, Sina said in a news release.

"This partnership leverages the strong offerings of two internet powerhouses to provide internet users in China (with) a better overall experience," Sina's chief executive officer Charles Chao said in a statement.

Full article: news24.com 

Labels: China, partnership, Sina

NEW YORK (AP) - CDC Corp., a maker of software and operator of the China.com site, said Tuesday it expanded its partnerships with Google Inc. and China Mobile Ltd.

Under the agreement with Google, the search engine launched video ads, called Video Adsense, in the English language portion of the site. Google will also place ads on the China.com portal to promote its search engine.

Read more: hemscott.com 

Labels: Adsense, China, mobile, Software, video