Google's Road Back to China Littered With Obstacles

"At this moment, it's not a particularly hospitable environment," said Mark Natkin, managing director of industry research firm Marbridge Consulting. "I'd imagine getting such a search permit would be difficult, if not impossible for the company." In the past week, Apple Inc. came under fire from Chinese state media for not doing enough to block illegal content. The week before, Qualcomm Inc. abandoned its acquisition of Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV after a deadline to gain approval in China passed. About the same time, Facebook Inc. announced plans to build an "innovation hub" for developers in eastern China--but the business license was then pulled, and the project appears to have been sidelined.