Google Ends Censoring in China

12:45 PM -- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) upped the ante in its battle against China yesterday by redirecting Chinese users to Google.hk, its uncensored Hong Kong site.

But the fun didn't last long. In response, the Chinese government began disabling searches for "objectionable content" and blocking links to some results, The New York Times reports.

Some what's next for Google? Possibly some serious repercussions, NYT says:

• China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL), the country's biggest mobile communications company, is expected to pull out of a deal to put Google search on its home page.
• China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU), the second-largest mobile company, is said to be either delaying or killing its launch of a phone based on Google's Android.
• TOM Online, a mainland Chinese Internet firm, has already stopped using Google search.
• Google may also have trouble keeping its Chinese ad sales workforce.

Meanwhile, the Chinese people feel "caught in the middle" of the dispute, the Associated Press reports. Some have laid flowers or chocolates on the "Google" sign outside the company's office in Berlin.

— Erin Barker, Digital Content Reporter, Cable Digital News