Shanghai. March 23. INTERFAX-CHINA - Global search giant Google Inc. has shut down its Chinese search site Google.cn, and has begun redirecting users to Google.com.hk on March 22, according to an official blog entry posted on the same day.
According to a post written by Google's senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond, Google has stopped censoring all its search services on Google.cn. Visitors will be automatically redirected to the company's Hong Kong site.
The decision was made after over a month-long round of unsuccessful discussions with the Chinese government, sparked by a number of cyber attacks made on Google's servers in January, which the company believes to have originated in China.
These issues, "combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger-had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn," Drummond said.
"The Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement," he continued.
China maintains that it is within its rights to prohibit content it deems inconsistent with its laws and customs.
Google will maintain its research and development (R&D) and sales presence in China.
Domestic industry observers speculate that the government may block the Google Hong Kong search site.
"Google's move will negatively impact advertising and sales revenues, resulting in an inevitable decrease in market share," Li Zhi, a senior analyst with domestic consulting firm Analysys International told Interfax on March 23.
Google held a 35.6 percent share of the search engine market in China. Baidu, its main competitor, holds a 58.4 percent market share, according to Analysys International figures.
"Google's retreat from the mainland market will offer a lucrative opportunity for smaller companies, like Sohu's Sogou, NetEase's Youdao and Tencent's Soso, which each currently hold less than 1 percent market share," Li said.
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