Google ends deal with China's Tianya over censored searches

Google's licence to operate in China was reissued earlier this month

Google is to close two of its online services in China, and has also ended its deal with Tianya to provide technical support to the internet forum.

Support will end for the 'Hot List' trends information and 'Life' general search products as they were not widely welcomed by users in China, Google said in a Chinese language blog post.

Separately, the search giant said it would stop offering technical support for Tianya's Laiba and Wenda online forum products. Going forward, Google plans to run a separate version of the service.

According to a Google spokeswoman quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the decision to end the deals is around censorship.

"The products we are keeping on Google.cn do not require Google to censor," said Jessica Powell. "All other products, like web search, we are offering from Google.com.hk, and without censorship."

Google confirmed earlier this month that the Chinese government had reissued its licence to operate online in the country after extensive negotiations. Under the agreement, some sites will still be blocked by what has come to be known as the Great Firewall of China.

Google has promised to obey Chinese law and avoid linking to material deemed a threat to national security or social stability, Zhang Feng, an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference.

The search company will stop switching users automatically to its servers in Hong Kong, according to Feng.

Google is also looking into new Chinese government regulations regarding online mapping.

One of the reasons Google may be looking to stick it out in China is the fact that the Chinese broadband market appears to be booming. A 57 per cent rise in broadband subscribers was seen in the first quarter of 2010, according to research out today from analyst iSuppli.