Google registers 18 '.中国' domain names

Google has registered 18 domain names in China for various Web products under the simplified Chinese country code top-level domain (TLD).

According to a report Wednesday by the National Business Daily, the 18 domain names the Internet giant registered included "adsense.中国", "adwords.中国", "android.中国", "chrome.中国", "google.中国", and "youtube.中国".

".中国" is the simplified Chinese country code TLD for China, and is among the internationalized country code TLD approved by ICANN.

National Business Daily quoted IT commentor Chao Yueping as saying Google's move may be a sign the Chinese market is still important to the U.S. company.

It currently has limited presence in the country after moving its Chinese search operations from China to Hong Kong in 2010, following disputes with the local government over censorship. Googl maintained its sales and research and development teams in the country.

However, Li Yi, secretary general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, said Google may only be protecting its intellectual property rights and noted Google never left the country.

Google China declined to comment, the report noted.

An executive from its local office last week said its mobile advertising business was thriving in the country and it was planning to grow this business segment, as more people buy mobile phones and access the Web with mobile devices.