Google ceasing censorship due to Chinese hacking attacks

Google has announced they will cease censoring web search results in Chin. I was just interviewed about this by ABC Sunshine Coast Radio. The reason given by Google to review its business operations in China are sophisticated attacks originating from China attempting to access Gmail accounts of human rights activists. While the Google announcement does not so in plain language, Google is clearly accusing the Chinese government of attacking its systems. Google has about one third of Chinese search revenue and this is a significant market to give up. What might be also significant is the effect on China of the loss of access to Google, if the Chinese government decides to block the site. It will be an interesting economic experiment to see how quickly other companies move in to fill the vacuum and if the lack of Google impedes the Chinese economy.

ps: I had top declare my interest in the radio interview, as I have Google AdSense advertising on my web pages and earn money from them.