Google Inc is shutting its online music download service in the Chinese mainland next month because of pressure from local rivals such as Baidu Inc and Tencent's QQ.

The service, available only to computers with an Internet address in the mainland, will close on October 19. Users of Music Search will be able to log in and download their stored playlists until then, Google said yesterday.

"This is part of an ongoing effort across Google to bring greater focus to our portfolio of products. Our goal is to simplify and improve the Google experience for our users and to devote more resources to high impact products that improve the lives of billions of people," Google said in a statement.

In its Chinese-language company blog, the US-based search giant admitted that the music website's impact had been "less than expected."

As with Google's core online search business, the music service found it difficult to compete with its domestic rivals.

By the end of second quarter, Google had 15.7 percent of the online search market in China, the world's biggest Internet market with 538 million computer users. That was far behind market leader Baidu, which had a 78.6 percent market share, according to Analysys International, a Beijing-based IT research firm.

Google's market share declined from more than 30 percent to 15 percent after it moved its China servers from the mainland to Hong Kong in 2010.

Google's music website made its debut three years ago, offering free and legal music content to Chinese consumers.

Later, Baidu and Tencent began similar services which gradually came to dominate the domestic online music market.

Related

• Google launches cloud-based music service

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)