Google has launched a new question and answers site in China called Wenda.  Wenda means “ask and answer” in Chinese which fits the new site perfectly and is run in cooperation with Tianya.cn, a popular forum in China.

The company is using the same framework that powers the Russian question and answers site.  Looks good so far but as with all things in China there is a catch.

You cannot use your Google account login and must create an account specifically for use with Wenda though registration is free.  Since the site uses Tiayna’s ICP, the Chinese government is responsible for handing out the registration certificates and as such, all content on the site is monitored and censored for “objectionable” content.

Such a certificate is required for all Chinese based websites.  If that’s not bad enough, according to Blogoscoped, user accounts on Tiayna.cn (which includes Wenda) may be subject to XSS (cross-site scripting) which would allow others to steal login credentials.

I know what you’re thinking, Google is now attempting once again to compete with Yahoo! Answers and you’re probably right.

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Entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 6:27 am under Google.

Read more entries by Jonathan Schlaffer.
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