In its latest move, Google has decided to stop the Google Translate services in China. It thus removes another remaining service of the company from a nation where many social media platforms of Western countries were previously blocked.
Although the reports of Google Translate services being discontinued in Mainland China are being discussed on some censored social media networks for the first few days, the multinational technology firm confirmed the move on Monday (October 2, 2022).
Visitors are now being redirected to a website in Hong Kong that is inaccessible from the Mainland of China. The company replaced its translation interface with a standard search page recently.
Reports insist that the move will have an impact on the integrated translation capability of Chrome. It will also influence the translation abilities of some apps, such as KOReader, a document viewer, for users in China.
Low usage of the service
A spokesperson of the company confirmed via email to TechCrunch that the translation service is no longer available in Mainland China. The representative cited low usage as the reason for the discontinuation.
There is a possibility of other reasons too and yet it looks like this could be a valid reason for the search giant’s decision. Google services are not being used frequently in the country because it has to compete with local players, such as Alibaba and Baidu.
The strained relationship between the Chinese government and Google
It is crucial to note that the Chinese government and Google have had a difficult and strained relationship. Google made its entry into the Chinese market way back in 2006. It used a Search engine, which was censored by the government.
Reports claim that Google contemplated relaunching its Google Search service in China in 2018 followed by 219. The decision came with a project cod called Dragonfly. However, it had limited outcomes and tracked the whereabouts of the users and the histories of web browsing.
