Also, the company said it is no longer willing to censor search results as required by Chinese law. Google says it is still observing censorship laws, but it will hold talks with the government in the coming weeks.
Google.cn launched four years ago this month. Google is estimated to have around a thirty percent share of the search market in China. But that is only about half the share of the Chinese search engine Baidu. Baidu also reported an attack on its Web site earlier this week.
Online advertising sales in China are estimated to bring Google only a few hundred million dollars a year. Not much for such a big company, notes business expert Fariborz Ghadar at Penn State University.
FARIBORZ GHADAR: "Google has to make a decision whether they want to basically deviate from their vision mission statement that they 'do no harm' and stay in China. Or whether they have just had enough and they don't like the restrictions, and they don't like the cyber attacks, and they're going to move out so as to preserve their name and brand."
Online activity in China is closely watched and the government tries to limit access to many sites, including VOA.
On Thursday a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said "China's Internet is open" and that Chinese law bars cyber attacks. Another government official said China itself is the victim of a growing number of foreign attacks.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would like an explanation from the Chinese about Google's accusations. She is giving a speech next week about Internet freedom.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25