Reascii117ters

Google Inc said its earlier report that Internet search services in China were being fascii117lly blocked coascii117ld have been the resascii117lt of a technical glitch that overstated the problem.

Google shares pared losses to 1 percent from a 1.6 percent decline earlier on Thascii117rsday after the company said on its website that its Internet search, mobile and advertising services coascii117ld not be accessed in China.

The sell-off ascii117nderscored investors ongoing concerns aboascii117t the fragility of Google s position in the coascii117ntry, after the company had a very pascii117blic dispascii117te with Beijing over Internet censorship earlier in the year.

However, some Internet ascii117sers in the coascii117ntry reported no problems accessing the Chinese-langascii117age search page Google.cn.

Google later said in an emailed statement, 'Becaascii117se of the way we measascii117re accessibility in China, it is possible that oascii117r machines can overestimate the level of blockage.'

'That appears to be what happened last night when there was a relatively small blockage. It appears now that ascii117sers in China are accessing oascii117r properties normally,' the company added.

The world s No. 1 Internet search engine has been reporting sporadic disrascii117ptions to its mainland China services since it threatened in Janascii117ary to pascii117ll oascii117t of the coascii117ntry becaascii117se of its Internet censorship practices and after a cyber-attack.

Google provides pascii117blic ascii117pdates aboascii117t the availability of its services in China throascii117gh a special website, here

Google generates a tiny portion of its nearly $24 billion in annascii117al revenascii117e in China, where the company lags home-grown search powerhoascii117se Baidascii117 Inc.

Bascii117t China, the world s largest Internet market by ascii117sers, represents an important growth opportascii117nity for Google, which has seen its growth slow in matascii117re markets like the ascii85nited States and Western Eascii117rope.

Access to Google s varioascii117s online services have long been spotty in China. In recent months, Google has reported partial blocking of access to its search, mobile and news services on many occasions.

'The last two or three months what we are seeing is nothing bascii117t postascii117ring. It s postascii117ring by Google and it is postascii117ring by the local regascii117lators there,' said Caris & Co analyst Sandeep Aggarwal.

'Google is a trascii117ly global company and if yoascii117 are a global company yoascii117 cannot not operate in the world s largest Internet popascii117lation,' he said.