SEW Forums member InChina reports in this thread:

Google bought google.com.cn and google.cn for million dollars. which should be the record of domain business in China.

To launch a more localized business model will be more important than to buy a .cn domain.

Most of the well-educated Chinese users know the google.com domain well.
To attract new users, a domain in Chinese pingyin will be more acceptable for them. Yahoo launched a yisou.com for its Chinese search engine, which means the first search or "the one" search in Chinese. Sohu.com launched a sogou.com for its search engine, which means search dog in Chinese.

More promotions for google.com branding, a localized business mode, and a sub-branding domain as a plus, probably will help those guys in Google Shanghai office.

I can tell it's all over the Chinese media from a Google News search over there, but unfortunately I have yet to learn the language.

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