Google links to Chinese 'Net portal

Company pacts with Sina Corp.

By CLIFFORD COONAN

Google and Sina Corp., one of China's top Internet portals, have announced a partnership on news, advertising and search services in China, the world's second-largest online community.

Sina, which operates China's most-visited Web portal, will add Google's search service to its Web site, allowing Google users easier access to Sina's news content, the companies said. Sina advertisers also will be able to take advantage of Google's online advertising.

"In the future, we can explore cooperation in advertising and search, and other areas," said Google's Greater China prexy Lee Kai-Fu.

The companies wouldn't give a timeline for the launch of the advertising cooperation or how they would share revenue, as the details are still being worked out.

Google and other foreign Web giants such as Yahoo have been making progress in breaking into China, home to some 137 million Internet users, but domestic operators such as Sohu, Baidu and Alibaba still have an edge.

"Through our strategic cooperation, online users as well as online advertisers stand to benefit from the leveraging of strong brands, traffic and technologies from the two companies," said Sina CEO Charles Chao.