Google is testing a mobile version of its search engine that would adhere to China\u2019s strict controls over content, a person familiar with the matter said<\/b>
\nPlans for Google\u2019s censored search product aren\u2019t completed and it may never come to fruition, the person said. Chief among the hurdles, Google would need approval to re-enter the search market from Chinese authorities, who currently block access within the country to Google\u2019s search engine as well as many other foreign news and social-networking sites.
Google\u2019s Chinese search effort, which was reported earlier by the Intercept, is coming to light at a time of rising trade tensions between the U. S. and China, which could also complicate Google\u2019s plans.
If the effort were to proceed, it would mark a dramatic about-face for Google that is certain to fuel controversy among human-rights advocates and many of its own employees, as well as U. S. politicians. Google abandoned its Chinese operations in 2010 to protest the country\u2019s state-sponsored censorship and a government that Google co-founder Sergey Brin at the time described as having the \u201cearmarks of totalitarianism.\u201d
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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