After previously purchasing YouTube for well over a billion and a half dollars, it looks like the search engine king is gazing off towards the far east in China.
(Chicago Tribune) Google Inc., owner of the world’s most-used Internet search engine, will invest in Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd., a Chinese Web site that helps users download videos from the Internet.
The investment will probably be disclosed next month, Henry Wang, head of Xunlei’s operations in Shanghai, said today by telephone. He declined to give further details.
Xunlei (which means “Thunder” in Chinese) is probably closer to Google Video than YouTube, as one has to download the video in order to enjoy its benefits.
Google, who is getting their “wazoo spanked” by Baidu.com in China may be seeking local partnerships in order to gain a foothold in the region (at least investment wise).
Although their is no official word from either party, it seems (at least to me) that Google may be trying to dominate the video social market before any of its competitors have a chance to pose a serious threat.
Is it me, or is Google becoming like the Borg as their new motto online is “If we can’t beat them, assimilate them?”
(Hat Tip: Search Engine Land)
