Despite the looming threat that Google will pull its search services from China over ongoing censorship battles with the nation's government, the digital services giant's CFO Patrick Pichette said he believes the Android mobile operating system "should flourish" in the Chinese market. Speaking on a webcast addressing Google's mobile business, Pichette contended that Android is an open-source platform available to a variety of manufacturing partners and should perform favorably in China regardless of Google's squabbles with legislators.
Appearing on the webcast with Pichette was Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra, who outlined details of the company's larger mobile vision. "Google has bet big on mobile," Gundotra said, noting that its mobile search traffic has grown five times over the past two years. "When we see desktop usage decline, like when people go out to lunch, that's when we see mobile spike. We think these are brand-new searches that we would never have seen previously." Services like Google Maps for Mobile are also seeing massive consumer adoption, with more than 50 million active users.
Noting that a quarter of Android and iPhone users who download applications to their smartphones spend up to two hours each day with those apps, Gundotra also touted the possibilities of app-based mobile advertising, and said Google is presently working with handpicked partners including Urbanspoon and Shazam to trial new in-app ad solutions.
For more on Google's mobile outlook:
- read this PCWorld article
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