The continuing disagreements between Google and the Chinese government – which last month caused the search giant to move its Chinese operations to Hong Kong in protest of government censorship – have resulted in ongoing problems for Chinese searchers, as well as search engine optimization (SEO) in the country.
Duncan Clark, chairman of tech consultancy BDA, told IDG News Service that “I’m not surprised that it hasn’t been blocked. Both sides probably don’t want the thing to rumble on in any high-profile way.”
The tech news service also reported that the uncertainty caused by the contentious nature of Google’s relationship with the Chinese government would, in the long-term, be a bad thing for search engine optimization (SEO) in particular, and search marketing in general. The knock-on effects of the spat – including problems for other Google products – could pose additional risks for search marketers used to relying on Google for many services.
Experts say that other search engines, including homegrown competitor Baidu, could fill the gap left by Google.
