Worldwide Internet giant Google announced last week that it might be leaving China. Since Wednesday January 13th, 2010, all employees at the Google headquarters in Beijing have been on paid leave, awaiting further instructions from Mountain View, California. Official statements and speculation attribute this huge move to a combination of the firewall restrictions, a censorship that Google no longer wants to work with, an infiltration of the company that allegedly came from somewhere in the country and the continued dominance by local search engine Baidu in the China market, where Baidu commands 60% of the market and Google less than 30%.

Since the Internet went abuzz with the news last week, the Google China headquarters in Beijing has been bombarded with visitors, both locals and expats. These visitors, however, had differing views of the news, with some sad to see it leave, some who support the cause and those who couldn’t care less. Regardless, all showed up to pay their respects to one of the largest brand names in history. Bouquets of flowers, fruits and farewell letters cluttered the infamous Google logo.

What this means for the start up and tech industries is also highly anticipated. If Google follows through with the exit, their 30% market share will instantly be up for grabs for other industry leaders as well as start ups trying to get their foot in the door. But would Google’s departure really make the market more or less competitive?

And despite the possibility of the some 700 employees losing their jobs, there is not much to fear. Google talent is expected to be snapped up quickly, maybe even before the final outcome is revealed. Google’s exit means losing their footing in one of the world’s largest and growing markets in the world, but how much potential did they have to start with?

The other side of the story also means China will lose an industry leader and a little piece of the “internationalization” they have been working so hard at over the last decade.

Amidst all the uncertainty and all the different sentiments however, one thing is certain, techies, startups and everyday internet users alike are all anxiously awaiting further news. The ultimate outcome will undoubtedly have an impact, however slight, on anyone who uses the Internet, and that, is the power of Google.