From a more practical point of view, it depends on whether the issue relates to internet users in China or the Chinese government which insists on censorship of all website contents provided by Google. For instance, until March 2010, Google abided by the Internet censorship policies of China, enforced by filters that were collectively called the Great Firewall of China. In fact, Google.cn search results were censored and those relating to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were removed. So also were sites supporting the freedom movements of Tibet and Taiwan, the Falun Gong movement and sundry information likely to become damaging to the People’s Republic of China.

As for the users, Google argued that it did not consider giving the government information about users searching for blocked content but would inform the users that content has been restricted if and when they searched for it. Up till 2009, Google was the key China-based overseas search engine to unambiguously inform the user when search results were blocked or buried. As of December 2012, Google has forsaken the practice and does not inform the user of probable censorship for certain queries during search, as a result of which may have become less popular with the government.

As for the Chinese Internet users, some were critical of Google for supporting the Chinese government in its attempt to repress its own people, especially those who rebel against the government, while advocating human rights. What is more, in some instances, Google has been denounced and described as hypocritical by Free Media Movement for concurring with China’s demands and at the same time fighting the US government’s plea for similar information. As luck would have it, Google China has been condemned too by Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Google’s “DON’T BE EVIL” Motto Termed as a Fig Leaf

Only a few years ago (2009), Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television and People’s Daily came out with reports that Google’s ‘dissemination of obscene information’ is a fig leaf that covers nothing. As a result, the Chinese government promptly imposed administrative penalties to Google, while demanding reinforcement of censorship rights.

The Invaders

In 2010, based on a leaked diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Beijing, reports were flashed that the Chinese Politburo has directed the intrusion of Google’s computer systems in a worldwide coordinated campaign of computer sabotage and the attempt to access information about Chinese dissidents, carried out by ‘government operatives, public security experts and Internet rogues recruited by the Chinese government. The report hinted that it was part of an ongoing campaign through which invaders have broken into US government computers and those of Western allies, such as the Dalai Lama.

In response to ‘the invasion’, Google announced that they were “no longer willing to continue censoring results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks they will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which they could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. On March 22, 2010, after talks with Chinese authorities failed to reach an agreement, the company redirected its censor-complying Google China service to its Google Hong Kong service, which is outside the jurisdiction of Chinese censorship laws.

Bottom line: From the foregoing paragraphs, it would not be difficult to assess the reasons behind Goggle’s unpopularity in Chine where Baidu is the ruling rooster.