Apr 28, 2006, 11:03 GMT
Beijing - Google, the world's largest internet search company, is facing a new controversy in China Friday, just two weeks after it launched with the Chinese name Gu Ge.
After coming under fire for agreeing to self-censorship, Google's choice of Gu Ge, meaning 'harvest song' and meant to signify traditional songs that celebrate a rich harvest, has been mocked by www.noguge.com, which started an online petition demanding a name change.
More than 10,000 users have signed the petition, rejecting Gu Ge as being 'garbage' or 'unpleasant' and offering more than 50 alternatives.
By Friday 4,820 users had said they favoured Google renaming itself Gou Gou, which translates into dog dog, while others preferred the Chinese for service dog and paternal aunt. Also gathering votes was Gou le, which means enough.
A Google spokeswoman was quoted in Chinese media as saying that Google would take no legal action against the site and was willing to discuss the name with the critics.
The name had been selected by Google CEO Eric Schmidt from 1,800 choices to symbolize a 'fruitful and productive search experience,' it was announced at the name launch on April 12.
Though Google's competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo had already complied with Chinese censorship requirements, it attracted heavy criticism because it was the last major global search engine to do so, justifying the move as abiding to local 'laws and customs.'
China's internet police block hundreds of websites that are deemed politically sensitive and try to keep content broadly in line with the ruling Communist Party's ideology.
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