Less than a month ago, Google announced that it might shut down Google.cn and the China offices. The search engine giant might not give up on the country completely, but a new report is showing that it’s part of a group that’s trying to invest in a large Chinese media and advertising company.
According to George Chen and Melanie Lee, Disney is leading a consortium that will include Google, and said consortium wants to buy a 30 or 40 percent stake in Bus Media for about $100 million. Negotiations are supposed to be in progress right now.
This type of an investment can be really smart considering the notable entities like CCB International, China Renaissance Capital Investment, IDG and the Yangtze Fund have all put money behind Bus Media.
Bus Media is enjoying China’s government support, as it’s “the exclusive partner of state broadcaster CCTV and the official Xinhua news agency for in-bus media content and advertising.”
This brings us back to the sensitive issues of Google, China and censorship. Its unknown if this will change Google’s attitude of if the company as found solution that will complement its moral stand.