Skip the navigation
News

Google used rival's database 'inadvertently'

Not saying how it happened, only that it did

By Sumner Lemon
April 10, 2007 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - After evading the question for four days, Google Inc. folded on Monday and admitted in a blog post that developers at Google China had copied part of a software tool from rival Chinese Internet company Sohu.com Inc. for one of its own products. But Google later said the database was used unintentionally.

Google has yet to explain exactly how portions of a dictionary of Chinese words and names developed by Sohu -- which had not been made public or licensed for use outside Sohu -- ended up inside its Google Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME), saying only that it was an accident and the Sohu database was used to develop Google's product.

"Shortly after the product was released, we learned that content from a non-Google database had been inadvertently integrated into our dictionary," Google said Monday in an e-mail response to questions. The statement offered no further details of how the dictionary became integrated with Google's software.

On the surface, using part of a rival's copyrighted software in this way appears to violate Google's Code of Conduct.

"We respect our competitors and, above all else, believe in fair play in all circumstances; we would no sooner use a competitor's confidential information to our advantage than we would wish them to use ours," the Code says. "If an opportunity arises to take advantage of competitors' confidential information, remember: don't be evil. We compete, but we don't cheat."

While Google employees found to violate the Code "will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment," the company has not said whether such steps have been taken in this case.

On Sunday, Google released an updated version of its Pinyin IME with a new dictionary. That revision and an apology issued on Monday may have headed off a legal showdown with Sohu, but the damage to Google's reputation among Chinese Internet users was already done.

"Their image of innovation and 'don't be evil' was almost destroyed," said Jason Yin, managing director of market research firm In-Stat China, calling the events that unfolded over the weekend a "PR disaster" for Google China.

Pinyin IMEs are widely used in China as a way to type Chinese characters using their Pinyin romanization equivalents. Each IME draws on a built-in dictionary of Chinese words and names to suggest possible matches for users as they type Pinyin. These dictionaries take time and effort to compile, and ultimately determine the difference between a good IME and a bad one.

In the case of Sohu, two engineers spent more than a year compiling its dictionary, drawing on a database of popular search queries from the company's Sogou search engine.

Juan Carlos Perez, in Miami, contributed to this report.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2010 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives
This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
Introduction to VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5
Traditional disaster recovery solutions are often too expensive, complex and unreliable to meet business requirements. As a result, IT departments are hesitant to...
The Top Ten Secrets to Avoiding SAN Performance Problems
Maintaining peak performance while simultaneously addressing the root cause of SAN errors is challenging. Learn the most common SAN problems and explore new...
Deduplication Without Compromise
Go inside Quantum's scalable, high-performance, multi-protocol new DXi deduplication appliances, designed to make backup much more effective. Discover how the new future-proof DXi6700...
Director of Disk Products Discusses DXi6700
Discover how the new DXi 6700 series of deduplication appliances provide investment protection and a future-proof feature set, all while delivering fast, scalable,...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs