Google risked getting expelled from the world’s largest Internet market after the government objected to the practice that was adopted in March. The operator of the world’s most-used search engine earlier said in January it was no longer willing to comply with Chinese government regulations for Web sites to self-censor content.
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Google said last week it added a link to its unfiltered Hong Kong site on the google.cn homepage, instead of directing users automatically, and submitted a revised license application to the government based on the practice. That allows the company to “stay true” to a commitment not to self-censor search results in China while adhering to local law, Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said at the time.
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Google’s market share in China fell to 30.9 percent in the first quarter from 35.6 percent three months prior, according to data from research firm Analysys International. Baidu’s share increased to a record 64 percent from 58.4 percent, according to Analysys.
Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch estimated in April Google would generate $160 million in sales this year from China. That’s less than 1 percent of the company’s projected total revenue this year, according to the average of 29 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It earned sales of about $335 million from China in 2009, according to Analysys.
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