Chronology of Google in China

It seems Google intends to leave the Chinese market. Below is a complete chronology of Google’s adventures on the world's second Internet market.

If Google, as expected, closes its search in Chinese at the end of this month, this will be the culmination of many years of friction between the network media giant and the Chinese authorities. Below is a chronology of what happened until recently.

September 4, 2002

China blocks access to Google for the first time. Although no official statements have been made, Internet users in China report that it’s not possible to get to the Google homepage for two weeks . From this date until the launch of google.cn in 2006, Chinese Internet users use Google through the main, non-censored, google.com address

November 2003

The Great Chinese firewall is launched, a system capable of blocking unwanted content. Approximately 30,000 police officers , as stated, monitor search results and anti-government blog posts. Although Google search is unlimited, some of the links in the results do not work due to the fact that they are blocked by the Chinese firewall.
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June 16, 2004

Google buys a minority stake in Baidu , a leading Chinese search company, showing its interest in the second largest Internet market. Google will sell its stake in Baidu in June 2006 in order to concentrate on its own business.

September 24, 2004

Google for the first time removes anti-government material from Chinese search results. Several government-blocked sites do not appear in Chinese Google News search results. Google claims that the sites have disappeared for technical reasons , but critics say the company has succumbed to the pressure of Beijing.

January 25, 2006

Google launches Google.cn , a Chinese version of its site. The company has been criticized for filtering search results and blocking sensitive content, in accordance with the wishes of the Chinese authorities. Protestants waving posters near the company's headquarters and commentators compare it with "Nazi assistants."

February 15, 2006

Google is criticized at the hearing of the congress because the company succumbed to the pressure of China and began to filter content. Also called Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco. Tom Lantos of the House International Affairs Committee declares to these four companies: “Your disgusting actions in China are a shame.”

January 2007

A year after the launch of the Chinese website, Google was unable to capture the market as it did in the company in the west. Google is in second place with 19% of the market, while Baidu’s share is significantly higher - 63%. Google is investing in Xunlei.com, a small startup, and is working on providing mobile content with China Mobile, the state-owned phone company.

January 5, 2009

The Chinese government has criticized 19 companies, including Google , for its insufficient efforts to block pornography.

March 24, 2009

Chinese authorities are blocking access to YouTube , Google’s video hosting site, after posting a video on YouTube about Chinese policemen’s beating Tibetan protesters. Four days later, the lock is removed.

June 19, 2009

The Chinese authorities turn off some features on Google.cn, arguing that they have links to pornographic and offensive content. Gmail is unavailable for over an hour.

July 2009

Google’s share in the Chinese search market for the first time rises above 30% in the first quarter of 2009, but still lags behind Baidu from its 60% market share.

January 12, 2010

Google announces an “ extremely sophisticated and narrowly targeted " Internet attack from China, the purpose of which was to access the e-mail of Chinese civil rights activists. Google announces a “review” of its business operations in China and announces “unwillingness to continue censoring” search results on Google.cn. Google recognizes that its actions may mean the cessation of doing business in China.

February 4

Three weeks after its announcement, Google admits that it has not made “ no changes ” in its Chinese search engine and that discussions continue with Beijing.

10th of March

Breaking the silence, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive officer, says of a confrontation regarding Internet censorship in China that “ something will happen soon .”

March 12

Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, states that Google will be “ unfriendly and irresponsible ” not to reckon with Chinese censorship laws.

March 15th

Two months after the talks between the parties, the Chinese authorities make known the likely closure of Google.cn . Sources inside Google confirm information.

March 16

Media suggests that Google has stopped filtering its Chinese website, and previously blocked images (such as photos of protests at Tianamen Square) are now displayed on it. However, the company itself denies the fact of filtering termination.

Sources: The Week , NYT , BBC , China Daily , WSJ , Reuters , Guardian , Google