On Monday, the US-based tech giant Google announced it had suspended its Google Translate service in mainland China “due to low usage.”
However, one of the few remaining Google services in China has been inaccessible since Saturday.
“We are phasing out Google Translate in mainland China due to low usage,” Google said in a statement.
In addition, the user also does not have access to Google’s built-in translations in her Chrome browser, according to a South China Morning Post report that cited several Chinese social media posts.
Alphabet Inc’s Google has a contentious relationship with Beijing, and in 2010 the tech giant withdrew its search engine from mainland China due to the government’s harsh censorship laws.
Many Chinese tech companies have offered alternatives to translation apps, but Google Translate reportedly had a large user base in China.
SCMP, citing data from web analytics platform Similarweb, reported that Google Translate recorded 53.5 million hits across his desktop and mobile apps in August of this year.
Amazon Inc. announced in June that it was ending its Kindle digital bookstore in the nation.
The professional networking service LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft Corp., discontinued operations in China last year, citing a difficult operating climate and heightened regulatory requirements.
In China, Airbnb Inc. shut down its domestic operations because the painful effects of the Covid-19 lockdowns were exacerbated by the growing local competition.
Beijing has increased its influence over more facets of life recently in an effort to more firmly establish its dominance over the economy.
This has resulted in stronger rules governing data privacy and security for businesses operating in the technology sector.
(bollyinside.com)
