From the Los Angeles Times blog:
Google Inc. confirmed Wednesday that a search engine feature had been partially blocked in China on the same day that its license to offer Internet services there was due to expire.
At issue is the “suggest” tool, which automatically recommends search queries based on the first few letters a user types. Suggestion technologies are popular in China. The blockage was noted on a Google Web page that tracks the availability of its services in mainland China. Other services remain “fully or mostly accessible.”
In a statement, a Google representative said: “It appears that search queries produced by Google Suggest are being blocked for mainland users in China. Normal searches that do not use query suggestions are unaffected.”
Google would not speculate on why the service was partially blocked. This isn’t the first time that a Google feature has been blocked. Service statuses often fluctuate in China.
Also from the Financial Times:
On Tuesday Google dashed hopes that its move to redirect users of its Chinese site to its uncensored Hong Kong web page had settled its dispute with the Chinese government over censorship.
The company said Beijing was unwilling to renew its ICP licence – a precondition for operating its Google.com site – if Google continued redirecting users. In response, Google created a “landing page” on Google.cn which offers visitors an optional link to the Hong Kong site, in a last-ditch effort to retain its Chinese presence.
Global Times, a tabloid newspaper owned by People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, quoted scholars saying Google’s move was only a technical change. The company had not changed its attitude, the paper said.
Beifeng, a prominent blogger and internet commentator, said on Twitter: “I think the authorities will not give Google.cn any further chance.”
Read more about Google’s efforts to get its ISP license renewed in China.