The Google China impasse is the first time I can recall that a corporate titan has put human rights/welfare ahead of the pursuit of profit. Practically every other multinational corporation has no problem cutting deals with the communist devil. One can only hope that the Google example of Corporate altruism will permeate our corporate culture and redifine what true capitalism really is.
Just tossing out ideas here, but market share, and proprietary secrets come to mind. How much ad space, how many pay per click links, can google sell in a big internet space vs. a small internet space? But even though they have that kind of underlying profit logic, it sure doesn't hurt PR that they can layer social justice on top. It's like icing. And let's not forget Chinese hacking attempts which really tick them off: proprietary defense. So profits are probably not taking a backseat at all. They might if google was privately owned.