In a report broadcast on December 11, China Central Television, the leading state channel, criticised search engines for running advertisements from non-licensed medical websites and carried footage of what appeared to be Google China's website.
“One can only guess about the motives behind this latest move, but it has the potential of throwing the online ad market into disarray,” said Edward Yu, chief executive of Analysys, a local market researcher.
The report comes after a month-long barrage of criticism against Baidu, Google's homegrown, larger rival, triggered by two CCTV reports in early November. The reports have driven the company's shares lower and forced Baidu to cut its fourth-quarter revenue forecast by 14 per cent last week.