Google: Recurring Problems in China

As flashed on the company’s website, Internet search giant Google Inc's Web search and mobile services were blocked and disrupted in China on Thursday. Confusions remained on the issue as to whether it was an intentional blockade by the Chinese Government or a temporary service hitch, which Google played down saying that the service disruption could have been the result of a technical glitch and the services appeared to be back and normal in mainland China after a significant time span.

Google shares pared losses to 1 per cent from a 1.6 per cent decline earlier on Thursday after the company flashed the fact that its Internet search, mobile and advertising services could not be accessed in China on its website.

Though Google claimed that the service is up and running normal, there are reports of intermittent disruptions. The sell-off pointed at the investors' ongoing concerns about the vulnerability of Google's position in the country, after the company went into a dispute with Beijing over Internet censorship earlier this year.

However, on a positive note, there were also few users in the country from whom ‘no-problem’ was reported regarding a smooth access to the Chinese-language search page Google.cn. Google later said in an emailed statement, "Because of the way we measure accessibility in China, it's possible that our machines can overestimate the level of blockage." "That appears to be what happened last night when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that users in China are accessing our properties normally," the company added.

The world's No. 1 Internet search engine, Google Inc., has been reporting periodic disruptions to its mainland China services since the much defamed and hyped January issue about the company threatening to pull their business out of the country because of its Internet censorship practices and a series of unpleasant cyber-attack.

Google provides public updates about the availability of its services in China through a special website, here. Google generates a tiny portion of its nearly $24 billion in annual revenue in China, where the company is a strong competitor of home-grown search powerhouse Baidu Inc.

But China being the world's largest Internet market by users, allures the search giant, Google, with a huge growth opportunity, which has actually observed a slower growth in comparatively more mature markets like the United States and Western Europe.

In recent months, Google has reported partial blocking of access to its search, mobile and news services on many occasions. "The last two or three months what we are seeing is nothing but posturing. It's posturing by Google and it's posturing by the local regulators there," said Caris & Co analyst Sandeep Aggarwal. "Google is a truly global company and if you're a global company you cannot not operate in the world's largest Internet population," he added.