You guys talking about Google needing to respect the laws of the country they're operating in should be ashamed of yourselves. "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Piss on Hu Jintao and his corrupt policies. Stick it to them Google.
I am not going to defend stupidity of the chinese government in overblowing this thing; however, I believe US government is just as heinous in its crimes and I've never heard
corporate media talking it up; such things are always being swept beneath the carpet; have you ever thought american army has killed almost one million innocent iraqis in last few years? I don't think chinese government has killed a million so far. I don't want to go in the details about Guantanamo bay either, every one knows how the socalled
leader of the free world treat the prisoners ...... which is beyond any human rights conventions ever comprehended. And what about Afghanistan, I don't think you even know that every month american's keep killing civilians in hundreds either by bombing villages or poor afghans homes; no wonder after spending almost 10 years they are on the verge of a defeat and yet, hardly any one knows that. What a result, after spending hundreds of billions and getting thousands of american soldiers killed.
I wish people would wake up, and see how this blind trust in government is hurting their nation, I hope it would end, someday may be, but that day is not today I'm afraid.
Now on the more technical aspect of the Google,
personally, I never have had an favourite search engine. But there is an issue with Google whenever it comes to searching for information on a more recent/hot topic. Any new topic which quickly grabs our attention won't be found that easily as the whole list of search results are based on authority from the past.
And Google's advance search has horrendously stupid interface for a normal user, it has been an astonishing oversight (I heard rumors that they are working to improve it, but I am not sure) and one which you would think the best and the brightest would have caught and fixed, but not really.
The problem actually lies in the way people use internet/search, as users are generally too lazy to change the habit of a lifetime i.e. switching to some other search engine when the which they are using is not serving them well. In last few months, I have continuously compared various search options, re-searching my results with different options, and frankly I no longer believe Google has any edge over others, that time has come and gone. I think as new economies emerge, there will be space for someone who can take the initiative with right mix of technology and give Google pretty damn good knocking; but not yet.
