Google to Change Policy in China
After the Chinese government made it clear that Google inc could no longer automatically redirect Chinese users logging on to a ‘landing site’ which offers the option to go to Hong Kong site, the company has said that it will change the way people in China access its search engine, said media reports.
“It’s clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable,” Google said in a blog posting today. “Without an ICP license, we can’t operate a commercial website like Google.cn–so Google would effectively go dark in China.”
According to the blog, Google instead provide a ‘landing site’ that offers Chinese users the option of going to the Hong Kong site besides a few other services such as translation that are provided in China.
The blog said that the company resubmitted an application to the Chinese government for the Internet Content Provider license based on this approach, reports said.
It may be mentioned that the US company in March closed its China search engine and began automatically directing users to the Hong Kong site after saying that it would no longer self-censor search results.
According to the statement, the new approach allows Google to ‘stay true’ to a commitment not to self-censor search results in China while adhering to local law, said reports.
The shift led to a loss of market share in China for the Mountain View, California-based company, according to data from research firm Analysys International.
Analysts said that local rival Baidu Inc increased its market share after Google’s policy change, reports said.
(Based on internet reports)
