Image via CrunchBaseGoogle Inc. said Thursday that its search engine was abruptly cut off from mainland China, raising more questions about the Internet company's ability to operate in the country while trying to work around the government's online censorship policies.
It's unclear why Google's search engine was suddenly fenced off, or whether China's government was blocking the service with technology tools known as the "Great Firewall."
The notice on Google's website reporting the China barrier provided no details and a spokesman at the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters was unable to elaborate.
The blockage could signal China's communist government has finally decided to retaliate against Google for taking a stand against its effort to control what its citizens can see and read on the Internet. If that's the case, Google might have trouble maintaining and cultivating other services, including mobile phones and mapping products, in the world's most populous country.
The relationship between Google and China's government has been tense since the company announced in January that it would no longer censor search results that the ruling party considered to be subversive or pornographic.
Google had cooperated with the government's restrictions for four years, but said it had a change of heart after uncovering a computer hacking attack that it traced to China.
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