TEXT OF STORY

Steve Chiotakis:
Google CEO Eric Schmidt now says he’s “confident”
China will allow the company to keep operating in there. That’s after the company pulled its search engine out of China, then fought to renew its license there.

From Shanghai, Marketplace’s Scott Tong reports.

Scott Tong: Why is Google confident it’ll stay? And why would China want the company to stay, after all the theatrics? Some speculate regulators think Google’s good for China — the company brings good jobs and know-how.

Shanghai attorney Greg Pilarowski.

Greg Pilarowski: They do have research and development facilities here. That is something that China has been very interested in encouraging from foreign technology companies.

This week Google’s largely blank China site added new icons for music and shopping, and an Internet license number. Chinese regulators, though, say they’re still processing Google’s application.

If they approve, Internet marketing consultant Lonnie Hodge thinks young people would cheer. They’ve had a taste of Google, and when they use the alternative Chinese search site…

Lonnie Hodge: They know when they go that maybe the whole front page of a search result is gonna be nonsense. It’s going to be stuff that somebody paid for.

Should Google stay, China’s emerging Internet market is 400 million people — so far.

In Shanghai, I’m Scott Tong for Marketplace.