Google Partners Unaware of Compensation Demands, Doubt Letter

A letter demanding Google Inc. compensate advertising agents if it withdraws from China probably isn't genuine, said a sales official at one of the companies named as a signatory. The letter, published yesterday on state-run China Central Television's Web site and received by Google, is "likely a fake," said Gao Min, who's in charge of Google ad sales at Beijing Zoom Interactive Media Co. Shenzhen Winkee Networking Co., also included among the 27 partners CCTV tied to the letter, denied signing it. Of the 22 companies reached by Bloomberg News today, none confirmed the authenticity of the letter.