China Issues Warning to Google Partners
This story was written by CNET's Stephen Shankland
The Chinese government has warned Google business partners to prepare for a day when they can't use Google services such as a search bar on their Web sites, according to a New York Times report Sunday.
Google has significant if not dominant share of the search market in China, but decided after a hacking attack that targeted human rights activists to cease censorship even if it means shutting down its Chinese operations.
If Google did shut down those services, business partners such as Sina.com.cn and Ganji.com that offer a Google-powered search box would have to either direct searchers to the main Google.com search page instead of the Chinese-specific Google.cn page; find a different partner; or filter the search results themselves to comply with Chinese regulations. Using the Google.com site isn't an easy workaround, since China and other governments can block access and indeed have done so with YouTube, Flickr, and other Web site