Google Considers China Pullout

Google said it will be talking with the Chinese government in coming weeks about how it might operate in China without censorship. Drummond also disclosed in his blog that Google has decided not to continue censoring its results on Google.cn.

Google launched its Chinese site Google.cn in 2006, which is under the supervision of Chinese government. Meanwhile, Google also promised the U.S. government that Google.com's operation in China would continue and would not be bound by Chinese censorship.

However, Google's operation in China has since been frustrating. Tension between the company and the Chinese government escalated last year when authorities accused Google of linking sites to pornography and as a result, started blocking Google China search results. Several Google services were temporarily inaccessible in China. The incident later led to the resignation of Kai-Fu Lee, Google's chief in China operation.

Google also struggled to gain search-market share with domestic rival Baidu Inc. According to market research company iResearch, in 2009, Baidu topped the market share at 63 percent, while Google ranked second at 33 percent. China's online search market reported revenues of 6.95 billion yuan last year.

Google's statement stirred debate in the market and among internet users. Some industry analysts said that the potential withdrawal of Google will significantly weaken its business strategy in China, leaving Baidu to emerge as the sole dominant search engine in China. Other believes that Google's statement will be an important test for the boundaries of internet censorship in China.

Translated by HW

Chinese：http://business.caing.com/2010-01-13/100107765.html