Microsoft sees no need for a “new approach to China,” though rival Google has adopted one that has generated quite a response. In an interview with CNBC today, CEO Steve Ballmer said his company has no plans to cease operations in China or take a moral stand on the Chinese government’s attitude toward free speech. Said Ballmer: “We’ve been quite clear that we are going to operate in China [and] we’re going to abide by the law.”

Asked earlier in the day by Reuters if Microsoft (MSFT) had plans to pull its business out of China, Ballmer answered, “No….I don’t understand how that helps anything. I don’t understand how that helps us and I don’t understand how that helps China.”

Of course, Microsoft has quite a bit more at stake in China than Google (GOOG)–all those pirated copies of Windows, for example.

“People wouldn’t like [ads on the homepage]. We prioritize the end user over the advertiser.”

– Google CEO Eric Schmidt, August 2009

How’s this for product placement? Google is promoting its new Nexus One “superphone” from the front pages of two of its most highly trafficked properties: Google.com and YouTube.

Surf over to the former and you’ll find a short plug for the Nexus One right beneath the query field on the company’s otherwise spartan search page. Point your browser at the latter and you’ll find a tile pitching an entire YouTube channel dedicated to the device, complete with demos and, of course, a direct link to the Google-hosted Web store through which it can be purchased (see below; click on image to enlarge).

Together, these sites reach hundreds of millions of visitors a month, so this is not an insubstantial promotion, and it’s sure to generate a fair bit of buzz for the Nexus One, which won’t be sold in stores.

This isn’t the first time Google (GOOG) has promoted a consumer electronics device from its homepage–the search giant featured Droid there last November and T-Mobile’s G1 in October 2008.

As I have noted here before, it’s interesting to see Google leveraging search–a product in which it enjoys a de facto monopoly–to promote a second product that isn’t yet dominant (Android).

source: digitaldaily.allthingsd.com