Now where have we seen this before... China launches its own search engine 'Goojje' in midst of row with Google

Knock-off websites of both Google and YouTube have emerged in China as the country faces off against the real search engine over its local operations.
The Google imitation is called Goojje and includes a plea for the U.S.-based company not to leave China, after it threatened this month to do so in a dispute over web censorship and cyberattacks.

The site looks similar to the original and the final syllable ‘jje’ sounds similar to the Mandarin word for older sister ‘jjejie’ – while the ‘gle’ syllable of Google is pronounced like the Chinese world for ‘older brother’.
'Little sister': Imitation search engine Goojje has gone live in China

Goojje has a message on its site which reads: ‘Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister.’
YouTubecn.com offers videos from the real YouTube, which is owned by Google and blocked in China.
The separate projects went up within a day of each other in mid-January, just after Google's threat to leave.

Threat: Google has said it will leave China in a row over censorship

The California-based firm - which launched in China in 2006 - said it would remain in China only if the government relaxed censorship.
Both knockoff sites were still working today. It wasn't clear what Chinese authorities would do with them, if anything.

China's National Copyright Administration has been cracking down on illegally run websites and this month issued a code of ethics, but no statement was posted on its site about the new imitations.
Real deal: YouTube is blocked in China after publishing banned content


Google had little comment. ‘The only comment I can give you right now is just to confirm that we're not affiliated,’ spokesman Jessica Powell said in an email.

China is famous for its fake products, but this is the first time such prominent sites have been copied in this way, said Xiao Qiang, director of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the University of California-Berkeley.

Xiao said the sites risk bumping into problems on both sides of the Google-China standoff: It infringes on Google's intellectual property and gives access to sensitive topics in tightly controlled China.

Knock-off: YouTubecn.com offers videos from the real YouTube

‘I cannot see how these sites can survive very long without facing these two issues.’ Li Senhe, the founder of the YouTube knockoff said: ‘I did this as a public service.’

Videos on social unrest in China can be found on the site, which is in English.
The real YouTube was blocked in China in 2008 after videos related to Tibetan unrest were posted there.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1247005/Imitation-Google-website-Goojje-begs-older-brother-leave-search-engine-threatens-quit-China.html#ixzz0e4NtOnAd

Google, YouTube Knockoffs Hit China

In a country famous for fake name-brand products, Goojje and YouTubecn may be the highest-profile imitations yet. As China battles it out with the real Google, knockoffs of both Google and YouTube have emerged on China's Internet. There's been no official response yet to the sites, but experts don't expect them to escape censorship—or intellectual property issues—for long.

YouTubecn offers content from the real YouTube, which has been blocked in China since videos of Tibetan unrest were posted on it in 2008. "I don't know if it will last long," a Chinese anti-censorship blogger told the AP. Goojje, on the other hand, is "quite clean by Chinese censorship standards," says one of its founders, who notes the site doesn't contain YouTubecn's level of sensitive material.

Goojje Google Knockoff Surfaces In China

Imitation Web sites of both Google and YouTube have emerged in China as the country faces off against the real Google over its local operations.

YouTubecn.com offers videos from the real YouTube, which is blocked in China. The Google imitation is called Goojje and includes a plea for the U.S.-based Web giant not to leave China, after it threatened this month to do so in a dispute over Web censorship and cyberattacks.

The separate projects went up within a day of each other in mid-January, just after Google's threat to leave.

"This should be an issue with Google's intellectual property, also with China censorship," said Xiao Qiang, director of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the University of California-Berkeley. "I cannot see how these sites can survive very long without facing these two issues."

Both sites were still working Thursday. It wasn't clear what Chinese authorities would do with them, if anything.

China's National Copyright Administration has been cracking down on illegally run Web sites and this month issued a code of ethics, but no statement was posted on its Web site Thursday about the Google and YouTube imitations.

Google had little comment. "The only comment I can give you right now is just to confirm that we're not affiliated," spokeswoman Jessica Powell said in an e-mail.

China is famous for its fake products, but this is the first time such prominent sites have been copied in this way, Xiao said.

Goojje, A Google China Knockoff

The Chosun Ilbo reports a new Google China has launched, a knockoff, named Goojje.com. It was made in response to Google saying they may have to shut down their Google.cn search engine a few weeks back.

It is a basic search engine, not affiliated with Google in anyway. It does however play on the Google name and Google logo.

Even If Google Leaves China, There’ll Still Be ‘Goojje’

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Google knock-off has surfaced in China to compete with the world’s largest search engine, while at the same time pleading with it to stay in the country despite censorship and hacking allegations.



Adding to China’s reputation for copies of items such as designer clothes, coffee chains and DVDs, “Goojje” began vying with Google on January 14, the Henan Business Daily reported.

Google had said two days earlier that it may close its Chinese Google.cn portal and pull out of China.

The name chosen by the newcomer is a play on words. The final syllable “jje” sounds like the Chinese word “older sister,” while the “gle” syllable of “Google” is pronounced like the Chinese word for “older brother.”

Goojje (www.goojje.com) has a search engine and provides social networking services. Its home page bears a Google-styled logo that combines hallmarks from the “older brother” and China’s top home-grown search engine, Baidu Inc.

“Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister,” the website says, in an apparent call for Google to stay in China.

Google was not immediately available for comment about the Goojje site.

Earlier this month, Google complained of censorship and a sophisticated hacking attack from within the country.

Keyword search results in Goojje give slightly different results than Google or Baidu but appear to be similarly filtered to avoid content China deems sensitive.

The Henan Business Daily said Goojje was founded by a female college student in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Contacted by Reuters, Goojje’s web host declined to give details on the site’s owner.