Google Discontinues Google Translate in Mainland China
Last Updated on: 4th October 2022, 01:23 pm
As Google Translate prepares to retire its services in mainland China, the company has removed one of its few remaining services in a country where most Western social media platforms are blocked. Originally launched in 2006, Google Translate offered a service that allowed users to translate text from one language to another.
Changes In The Chinese Market
However, the company has now announced that it is discontinuing its Translate service in mainland China due to “changes in the Chinese market.” This means that, for the foreseeable future, Google will no longer be able to provide translations between English and Chinese.
This is a significant loss for the Chinese market, as the Translate service was one of the few remaining services that Google offered in the country. While the Chinese market has seen a number of changes in recent years, including the rise of social media platforms such as WeChat and Facebook, the Translate service has been one of the few remaining services that have been unavailable to Chinese users.
With the discontinuation of the Translate service, Google is likely to be met with criticism from the Chinese population. Many of these users rely on the service to be able to communicate with people from other countries, and the loss of the service will make this difficult.
Google Translate is a popular translation service that has been integrated into various browsers and apps, making it a convenient and easy-to-use tool. However, since Saturday, users have been complaining that the translations and search features have been disabled. Google has not yet responded to requests for comment. This is not the first time that Google has had to deal with Chinese censorship issues.
In February, Google pulled its Hangouts app from the Chinese market after the government demanded that it remove features that allowed users to communicate privately over messaging apps. Google also faces censorship challenges in China through its search engine.
In March, a report from the CNET revealed that the Chinese government has been using sophisticated software to manipulate Google search results in order to promote government propaganda. Google has been struggling to keep up with the challenges posed by Chinese censorship. This latest development is likely to further alienate Chinese users from the company.
It is not clear how many users were using Google Translate in China, but the service has been discontinued in all of China’s main languages. Google said that the decision was made because the service is not meeting the needs of Chinese users. Google Translate was initially introduced in China in 2009 as a way for people to communicate in other languages.
Online Censorship & Surveillance
Over the years, the service has been used to help people with a range of tasks, including understanding news articles and advertisements, and requesting services in unfamiliar places. The discontinuation of Google Translate in China comes as the country continues to face challenges in online censorship and surveillance. In 2010, Google pulled its search engine from the Chinese market after it became unwilling to abide by the country’s censorship rules.
China’s strict censorship rules mean that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google are typically blocked by the government. However, this year, Chinese authorities have started to crack down on social media platforms, with Google being the latest to be affected. Google Translate, which is a service that allows users to translate text from one language to another, has been discontinued in mainland China. This means that people will no longer be able to use the service to translate words and phrases that may be politically sensitive.
