add add * Google China market share climbs in last six months

STAFF WRITER 18:14 HRS IST

New York, Jan 14 (PTI) The search engine giant Google, which has threatened to wind up operations in China, saw its share in the search engine market in that country rise significantly in the last six months.

Google had on Tuesday said it might be forced to shut shop in China, following hacking, targeting human rights activists, and web censorship.

According to web analytics firm StatCounter, the Internet major had a search engine market share of 43 per cent at the end of 2009, while its rival Baidu held 56 per cent.

"Google has made impressive gains in China since July last when it was at 30 per cent against Baidu's 68 per cent.

"Our analysis suggests that given Google's recent strong performance, market share is certainly not the reason behind its threat to leave China at this time," StatCounter chief executive Aodhan Cullen said in a statement yesterday.