Google sees Hong Kong traffic jump

data tube

Traffic to Google's Hong Kong servers has jumped since the web firm redirected its traffic there to avoid Chinese censorship rules.

Last week, Google announced it had started redirecting its Google.cn site to its Hong Kong version, so it could stop censoring search, as part of an ongoing battle with the Chinese government.

NetApplications chart showing Google traffic to Hong Kong site

The analytics firm said it would keep a close eye on the traffic to the Hong Kong site.

"If Google Hong Kong's share drop back to near zero, it is an indication that the Chinese government has blocked access from mainland China to the Google Hong Kong website," it said.

Read on for our timeline of the Google versus China battle.