Google hits Chinese license deadline, reports "partially blocked" search results

Wednesday was a big day for Google in China. It's the deadline for a renewal of the search giant's Internet Content Provider license, the license that allows Google to keep operating in China. On Monday, Google explained in a blog post that it would stop redirecting traffic from Google.cn to its Hong Kong site, Google.hk, because China was displeased with the redirect and unlikely to approve Google's license if it stayed in place.

On Wednesday, Google reported that its search results were "partially blocked" in China. Google's search recommendations, showing related searches, were inaccessible to Chinese surfers, but regular Google results seemed to be unaffected. There's no official news on the status of Google's license yet, but some serious drama will undoubtedly ensue if it's not renewed.

[via Marketwatch]

Tags: blocked, china, google, license, news, search