China Boycotts Google Nationwide

A popular Chinese Web portal said Wednesday it is taking over operation of two services developed and formerly operated with Google just days after the search giant took a risky stand against China's strict Internet censorship rules by moving its search engine offshore.

Photo: China Boycotts Google Nationwide

It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the decision by Tianya.cn to take over two sites it used to run jointly with Google.

One analyst said the portal may have come under pressure to distance itself from Google or perhaps it was a sign that Google itself had decided to break more of its ties to China.

Meanwhile, Google said Wednesday it was still providing censored searches in China to some customers that held contracts requiring it, but that all censoring it does in the country would be phased out, The Associated Press reports.

According to Business Week, Google Inc. said it’s still providing censored search services for some partners in China, after announcing this week it would begin offering unfiltered results in the country.

The company needs to fulfill "existing contractual obligations as we believe it’s the responsible thing to do," Jessica Powell, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman, said in an e-mail today. Google will phase out censored services for partners "over time," she said.