Search giant Google has decided it's better to be inside the China tent making money than not playing by the government's censorship rules in the market of 1.3 billion people.

An excerpt from the BBC story:

Google has offered a Chinese-language version of its search engine for years but users have been frustrated by government blocks on the site.

The company is setting up a new site - Google.cn - which it will censor itself to satisfy Beijing's hardline rulers.

Google argued it would be more damaging to pull out of China altogether.

Critics warn the new version could restrict access to thousands of sensitive terms and web sites, many of which are already off-limits to users because the Chinese government blocks them.

Such topics are likely to include independence for Taiwan and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Google's move in China comes less than a week after it resisted efforts by the US Department of Justice to make it disclose data on what people were searching for.

Google has lost ground to Beijing-based web search company Baidu

Google hopes its new address will make the search engine easier to use and quicker.

Its e-mail, chat room and blogging services will not be available because of concerns the government could demand users' personal information.

Officials said they planned to notify users when access had been restricted on certain search terms.