Google Tries to Appease China

After boldly stating earlier this year it would no longer censor search results on its Chinese site according to China's regulations, Google's now trying to appease the Chinese government to allow it to continue operating in the country.

Since March of this year, Google has redirected search queries from China to its Hong Kong site, where search results aren't filtered by Google and blocks from the Chinese government are readily apparent. But in a bid to renew their internet provider license, Google China has decided that instead of automatically directing traffic to HK, they'll now show a link to the HK site instead.

Mr. Drummond wrote that in an effort to continue to serve Google’s Chinese users while satisfying the government, the company was proposing a compromise.



Instead of being automatically redirected, Chinese users will see a page at google.cn with a single link to the Hong Kong site, where they can conduct searches or use other Google services, like translation and music.



“This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page,” Mr. Drummond wrote.



The company said it had resubmitted its content provider license based on this tactic and hoped the Chinese government would find it more palatable.

 Read the full story over at the New York Times.

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