Search engine giant, Google, has changed its name in China hoping to increase its presence in the country’s rapidly growing economy.
Google will now be known as Gu Ge, which means “harvesting song”, with the internet body saying the name conveyed “the sense of a fruitful and productive search experience in a Chinese way.”
Commenting on the new name, Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, said: “We are committed to providing Chinese-language users with easier ways to identify and access Google as well as providing them with more products, better tools and greater access to information.”
Google also announced that it would be opening a new research centre in Beijing, aiming to employ around 100 engineers by mid 2006.
Online users in China have topped 100 million last July according to data released by the China Internet Network Information Centre (see Online Users In China Pass 100 Million).
US analyst eMarketer projects that China’s broadband market will be dominated by digital subscriber lines (DSL), with cable accounting for 2.1 million broadband households, or just 6% of the market, compared to 25.6 million for DSL and 9.2 million for other technologies like satellite, fibre, fixed wireless, powerline and other emerging broadband technologies accessed at home.
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