Google threatens to pull out of China

The world's biggest internet search engine says it may well pull out of the fast growing market after a series of cyber attacks against human rights activists.

The company faced heavy criticism when it launched a Chinese version of its website which censored certain results from searches on things like human rights.

The U.S. search giant says it will "review the feasibility of our business operations" in the country, following attacks on Google's infrastructure and continued restriction of free speech.

Google says it may shut down its Chinese search engine -- and potentially close its offices in China -- if the Chinese government does not allow it to run an uncensored search engine within the law.

The announcement follows cyber attacks on Google servers (and other companies') designed to access Gmail and Google accounts used by Chinese human rights activists.

Google's business in China is not huge, but it could drive future growth, especially if Google were to gain more traction in the country. For context, Google's search share in China is around 15%-20%, much lower than leader Baidu, which is around 75%-80%.

For SEO India companies like us, exit of Google from china can usher us into an era where Baidu could be the biggest frontier.