On Friday, we relayed fresh statistics that put Google’s share of the search market in China at 16.6 percent.  Baidu’s share was pegged at 76.9 percent.

But according to Aw Guo, YouTube grew unstable on Wednesday and then became completely inaccessible.  Google experienced similar problems.  And although access has been restored in some areas, certain users were still experiencing issues as of yesterday.

Our only guess regarding the cause is that the Chinese government was trying to send a message ahead of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.  Which may mean another blackout will occur tomorrow.

Anyway, at least one small thing seems to have gone in Google’s favor: there’s a rumor that it managed to renew a contract with China Mobile.  This might help Google put Android in the hands of many, many more people.

"We can only say that negotiations have ended for now," a spokeswoman for China Mobile Communications told the AP. "We have no other news to report." Chinese Internet portal Sina.com promptly started reporting that (surprise, surprise), the deal-breaker was likely the 20-to-30 percent revenue share agreement Apple was likely demanding – Wired Blog.

• China Mobile Walks Away From IPhone Deal Forbes
• China Mobile, Apple End Talks on IPhone The Associated Press
• Apple runs into China Mobile wall MarketWatch
• No reception for China as iPhone talks fail – Times Online UK
• China Mobile ends talks with Apple over iPhone – AFP
• China Mobile ends talks with Apple over the launch of iPhone handsets – The Canadian Press
• Apple, China Mobile Call iPhone Talks Off – Digital Media Wire
• China Rejects iPhone – G4 TV

Comments

Google and China.com originally formed a partnership in 2006. Under that agreement Google provided its search engine technology to users in China to search the English channel of the China.com portal.

Google has also launched Video Adsense on China.com, which serves multinational companies investing in China. Google is also promoting their search engine by placing ads on China.com.

China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in China with over 300 million subscribers, is placing video ads on China.com as well.

"We are pleased to broaden our strategic partnerships with Google and China Mobile," said Xiaowei Chen, Ph.D., president of China.com Inc. "The portal business is where we started, and we continue to seek opportunities to leverage our great brand to create additional value for our shareholders.

"Our goal is to achieve a robust rate of growth in advertising that will equal or exceed industry projections for overall growth of 30 to 35 percent in online advertising this year in China."

Google will provide search engine services to China Mobile to enable “mobile search” on China Mobile’s Monternet WAP portal. China Mobile users will be able to search Monternet content, including sports and entertainment news, ringtones, games, images, videos and novels.

Users will be able to access the service via Monternet’s homepage, or through a dedicated mobile search homepage on Monternet. The service will be launched in earlyn 2007.

Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, said, “We are delighted to be providing China Mobile users with mobile and internet search services via our cooperation with Google. Mobile search will help users access the information they need more easily and quickly.”

“This is an important move for China Mobile’s transformation into a mobile information expert. China Mobile will unite the industry chain, rapidly enhancing the whole industry’s value. Our cooperation will not only satisfy our users’ diverse communication needs but also build a new mobile world for Chinese users to communicate freely and live comfortably.”

Jianzhou continues, “As the leader of global internet search services, Google has a strong innovative capability. China Mobile and Google are working hand-in-hand and combining our strengths to improve the development of wireless, value-added services in China.”

Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, comments, “Creating an enhanced mobile experience is a very important focus for Google. Our goal, when working with key industry leaders like China Mobile, is to continue to develop compelling services that provide users worldwide with access to information directly from their mobile device.”

“The cooperation between China Mobile and Google further enhances the strong innovative attributes of both companies, creating a richer mobile user experience.”

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.