Research firm Analysys International, China, has released a report that says Google's share of the Chinese search engine market declined in the second quarter while it was involved in a public battle with Beijing over censorship. The search engine firm saw its market share fall to 24.2 percent in the three months to June, from 30.9 percent in the first quarter, Analysys International states in the report.
China's search market was worth $394 million in the second quarter, up 48 percent year on year. Domestic web search engine Baidu witnessed an increase in its market share to 70 percent in the second quarter from 64 percent in the first. According to the research firm, uncertainty over Google helped Baidu expand its market share.
Signs of Google losing its share of the world's biggest online market began when the company announced, in January, its intentions to leave the Chinese market. In March, Google decided to stop censoring its search results in China and started to redirect all users from its Google.cn page to its uncensored Hong Kong search engine.
According to the Analysys International report, Google's decision to shift its server to Hong Kong and uncertainty over the renewal of its licence, cost the company valuable market share. The report further states that Google will make a comeback now that uncertainties have been resolved.
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