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Q: questions to expats in China, begging for answers,Thank you!
Hi!About the search engine,,I'm wondering that.. do you use Baidu when you are in China? I know that most of expats need to search English information,so Google will be their first choice.But lately,the Google in China has stopped for a while(a few days I think),,I don't know why,,and I had to download some curtain software to use Google.So here is the second question,do you guys download some curtain software to over the great firewall of China so that you can use facebook or youtube in China? I just paid the agency of Google around 7000RMB for Google AdWords,,so that people can search my website from Google, it's an English website,,in consideration of the major customers of our company are expats, I didn't choose Baidu Promotion. but Now I am concerned that Google in mainland is not as steady as before,,(I was told that Google will stop for 2 weeks in mainland this time,) will you still try to find a way to use Google?And if you still use,it's definitely good news for me,,,Please let me know ,,Thank you very much!!Gao Fei
No, when Google doesn't work I resort to Yahoo or Bing. I never use Baidu because the results are WAY off from what I want.
I use a VPN but not for search engines. I think you should shut off your Google Adword campaign until Google is no longer totally blocked. That is unless your foreign clients are outside the mainland as well.
Baidu search results are terrible for pretty much everything, so I use a VPN to access Google search.
BaiDu is not a functioning search engine. Just a windowdressed excuse to sell stuff.
Traditional medicine is not a functional treatment method. Just a windowdressed excuse to sell stuff.
Chinese News is not an informative source of world events. Just a windowdressed excuse to disseminate propaganda.
Communism is not a functioning political philosophy, here. Just a windowdressed excuse to consolidate power.
Economic development is not a functioning way to improve people's lives. Just a windowdressed excuse for the rich to get richer and gain face.
... bored now.
coineineagh:
Disclaimer: The things I'm describing do apply to some westerners, too. But they are NOT applicable to the majority of people abroad, and DEFINITELY not a socially acceptable societal norm in the EU or USA. But they are in China... Chinese holidays are not a functional enjoyment method. Just a windowdressed excuse to sell package tours for Chinese who measure their happiness by purchasing power and numbers of famous sights seen. Chinese meetings are not a functional communication method. Just a windowdressed excuse for the boss to dictate impossible goals, and for employees to show how hard they pretend to work. Chinese communities are not functional at all. Just a windowdressed excuse for overgrown children to brag to an audience. Chinese police is not a functional law-enforcement method. Just a windowdressed semblance of the rule of law, to be used as a bullying mob by those in power. Chinese relationship-building is not a functional method of increasing social capital. Just a windowdressed confidence trick setting you up for the slaughter. Chinese universities are not functional education institutions. Just windowdressed businesses to relieve families of their funds, and help very young girls date wealthy businessmen. China is not a functional country. Just a windowdressed fascist dictatorship that glorifies Nazi Germany and strives for Chinese supremacy at all costs, disregarding all human considerations.
I think most will use Yahoo or Bing, me personally, I use Yahoo.
You ask many questions, not sure which one matters to you the most.
Why not using Baidu => the search results are far from being as good as Google or Bing.
Do you have a VPN => of course. I would not be able to communicate with most of my friends and family members. I would not be able to read many blogs and comics I enjoy. I would not be able to listen shows I like. I can't force all my friends to use whatever application, like QQ or weibo, just because I decided to live in China.
Why Google became so slow => it became slow in China only, it's been crippled by the Great Firewall. The idea is to make it very hard to use, so people won't feel like using it. It have two "advantage". Google don't want to censor anything, but if people can't use it, no big deal anymore. Less people on a Google is more people on Baidu, so it's more business for the national company.
Will I stop to use Google => nope
I have vpn and use Google. If not Google then Bing. The only thing I use Baidu for is to check if the number that called me is a scam or telemarketer, and yes, it's always a scam or telemarketer.
I use GooGle with a VPN if it is not working. I think it will likely be working again in a week as it was switched off because of the 25th anniversary of a June 4th "gathering" in Beijing that the party would rather not remember.
Simple rule of thumb.....if you want to search in English use google or bing, if you want to search in Chinese use baidu
" I just paid the agency of Google around 7000RMB for Google AdWords,,so that people can search my website from Google, it's an English website,,in consideration of the major customers of our company are expats, I didn't choose Baidu Promotion"
I would assume you're asking what we're using to browse in China because you're considering whether the 7k rmb you paid is worth for your advertising/marketing decision ?
I use google most of the time, i know some people use bing, but I believe only a small fraction of people use baidu. And they only use it to look up chinese website or words sometimes (i do it too when i was looking for articles for my works). So your decision to approach english based search engine is right if you want to attract more foreigners.
The google that we open in china are automatically referred to google.hk but i'm not really sure about this, if you want to assure the accuracy of your ads etc perhaps it is better to get an IT guy to look up about the redirection of internet in china.
GaoFei:
Thank you very much,,and yes you are right, I am considering whether the 7k rmb I paid is worth or my advertising,,,I knew that some websites are blocked in the main land of China,like facebook..youtube... but I never thought Google would be blocked...it is not totally blocked though,,hope it's just temporarily ...
But now I got the answers from you guys,,seems most of you would use a VPN,,so it make things better for me...
that means,no matter the google is blocked or not, you still can use google in China,,,and this is the answer I expected.
Than you!
Robk:
Umm...
But you don't understand.
If people use a VPN then Google will give them the Google representative by their geographical location. Meaning... if you Adword campaign is setup for China, and I use a VPN that connects me to a server in the US. Then Google sees me in US and DOES NOT display adverts directed at China. This is to increase the effectiveness of the ads.
So... in short, if most people here use a VPN to connect with a server outside of China, your campaign for inside of China is useless. Your campaign would be mostly useless because foreigners would be connecting to various servers around the world and your campaign (if only 7000 RMB) would not cover searches well on an international scale...
Do you understand?
use VPN or Bing
Baidu is useless to search for English content and no one trust its search result.
I use Google. Sometimes Bing, but I'd rather turn of my computer than use Baidu, it's like a broken pencil.
Copy - pasting this as your campaign may be useless if you continue it.
If people use a VPN then Google will give them the Google representative by their geographical location. Meaning... if you Adword campaign is setup for China, and I use a VPN that connects me to a server in the US. Then Google sees me in US and DOES NOT display adverts directed at China. This is to increase the effectiveness of the ads.
So... in short, if most people here use a VPN to connect with a server outside of China, your campaign for inside of China is useless. Your campaign would be mostly useless because foreigners would be connecting to various servers around the world and your campaign (if only 7000 RMB) would not cover searches well on an international scale...
Do you understand?
GaoFei:
Yes now I understand it ,thank you Rob!
And I've asked the ITguy to stop my AD,,,but I feel that they won't give money back to me easily...seems this will cost a while .
Thank you!
I was able to use google for my own country these past two auspicious days but, curiously, not today. It's blocked. Google.hk doesn't seem right, as Robk suggests.
Might do you to get your money back.
I use https://startpage.com/ whether in China or abroad, they don't record your IP, no cookies, no search history in their database. One must be dumb to use Google knowing that the CIA has an unrestricted access to their database, and there is no doubt at all about the Chinese authorities knowing about everything going on Baidu.
I use Baidu a lot... mostly for checking where my students have stolen all their assignments from...and for bus routes and the like.
Anything else... and I won't use Baidu! (although, apparently, the porn is better... I'm obviously using the wrong search terms :( )
This was a fake question. This poster just wanted to spam people with a bunch of relocation crap via private message.
If your market is China, do not buy Google ad words as most of the ads will not be seen here.
