Google is changing its China strategy again in an attempt to hold on to its internet operator licence there. Since January the company has been redirecting visitors to its local portal Google.cn to its Hong Kong site, Google.com.hk, so it can avoid having to filter results from its earch engine. However, the Chinese government has indicated that if it continues with this strategy, Google may lose its licence, which is set to expire on 30 June. So instead of automatically redirecting users to the Hong Kong site, Google has started taking a small percentage of them to a landing page on Google.cn that links to Google.com.hk, where users can conduct web searches or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which the company can provide locally without filtering. In the coming days the Hong Kong redirect will end in favour of the new landing page. Google has filed for a licence reneweal based on the new approach.
