Alphabet stock is trading at $98.49 as of 11:40 AM EDT.
One of the few services that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) still offers in the second-largest economy in the world has been discontinued the closure of its Translate app for China. Users from the People’s Republic of China are currently presented with a static image of a standard Google search bar and a link to the company’s Hong Kong-based domain, which is restricted to users from the People’s Republic of China. The abrupt suspension impacted certain Chinese apps that used Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for translation, adding additional bricks to China’s Great Firewall.
Background
In 2006, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) made its first foray into the Chinese market with a censored version of its search engine. Following state-sponsored attacks and government-ordered blockages in response to YouTube videos showing Chinese security forces fighting with Tibetans, the engine was shut down in 2010. In 2018, Google almost relaunched a China Google Search via a project dubbed Dragonfly, which would have restricted results and location data. The plan was later abandoned due to backlash from lawmakers and an internal uproar.
Although recent data may indicate otherwise, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stated in a statement that it was ending Google Translate in mainland China owing to “poor usage.” The page received 53.5 million views from desktop and mobile visitors combined in August, according to web analytics provider Similarweb, while expanding at a 30% rate over the previous two months.
More information: In 2021, many American companies shut down their operations in China due to tech disputes between Washington and Beijing.
Go deeper: As a result of the tech tensions between Washington and Beijing, many American companies have shut down their operations in China during the past year. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) shut their local businesses, while LinkedIn (NASDAQ:MSFT) removed the social feed from its China site purposely to comply with new internet restrictions.
While some businesses, like LinkedIn (NASDAQ:MSFT), have tried to abide by new internet restrictions by eliminating the social feed from its China platform, others, like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), have shut down their local operations. Domestic rivals like Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) have dominated the Chinese internet landscape, from social networking and gaming to search and translation.
Alphabet Stock, Losses, and Post-Earnings Gains
Since July 26, 2022, when Google released its 2Q-22 earnings, Alphabet stock has lost all of its gains. When Alphabet stock first started to advance, there were some expectations that it would eventually break out of its trading range. However, this expectation has not been realized.
Google had a relatively solid second quarter in terms of revenue growth despite the clear challenges the digital ad market presented to the company. Google’s 2Q-22 revenue rose 13% YoY to $69.7 billion, which is an improvement given the conditions. Google showed the market that it is still capable of growing sales despite its earnings per share of $1.21, which were slightly below consensus.
Featured Image- Megapixl @ Vladsseven
Author Jowi Kwasu 
