Google is now redirecting all blogspot.com blogs in India to a different blogspot.in address.
The change is live in India but Google, according to this support page, is planning to take a similar approach in other countries as well. So a blog like abc.blogspot.com could redirect to abc.blogspot.com.pk for a visitor in Pakistan or to abc.blogspot.sg when viewed from Singapore.
So why is Google switching to country-specific blogspot.com URLs? The answer is simple – this gives them the ability to censor (or remove) content hosted on Blogger country-wise.
By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers. Content removed due to a specific country’s law will only be removed from the relevant ccTLD.
For instance, if the Indian government (or court) orders Google India to remove offensive content from a blog hosted at abc.blogspot.com, Google can simply block those pages in India while they’ll continue to be available in other parts of the world.
This looks like a good approach though I wonder if the recent demands from Indian ministers to pre-screen content have forced Google to implement such a solution. The courts and the other law enforcement agencies in India sent Blogger a total of 39 content removal requests in the first half on 2011 according to Google’s transparency report.
Source
The change is live in India but Google, according to this support page, is planning to take a similar approach in other countries as well. So a blog like abc.blogspot.com could redirect to abc.blogspot.com.pk for a visitor in Pakistan or to abc.blogspot.sg when viewed from Singapore.
So why is Google switching to country-specific blogspot.com URLs? The answer is simple – this gives them the ability to censor (or remove) content hosted on Blogger country-wise.
For instance, if the Indian government (or court) orders Google India to remove offensive content from a blog hosted at abc.blogspot.com, Google can simply block those pages in India while they’ll continue to be available in other parts of the world.
This looks like a good approach though I wonder if the recent demands from Indian ministers to pre-screen content have forced Google to implement such a solution. The courts and the other law enforcement agencies in India sent Blogger a total of 39 content removal requests in the first half on 2011 according to Google’s transparency report.
Source
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