Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Sino the times: MSN to pull Chinese portal

Products, not content, king

Microsoft's MSN China portal will farewell the Internet in June of this year, signalling a further withdrawal of the country's content presence in the Middle Kingdom.

The decision was first reported in Chinese media, according to Nikkei, with Redmond to pay more attention to hosting, Windows 10, and its R&D operation.

The announcement was made on cn.msn.com, putting June 7 as the cutover for the portal to quit offering its news, lifestyle and search services. It will redirect users to a Bing search bar (just in case users remember it) and a directory of Chinese sites.

As well as a refocus on products, Nikkei says local competition from Sina and Sohu, along with China's Great Firewall, were factors in the ecision.

Last year, Microsoft cut a deal with Chinese giant Baidu, which is now the default search engine in its Edge browser.

Baidu also became Redmond's Windows 10 distribution channel, offering a branded “Baidu Windows 10 Express”.

Like so many of its American peers, Microsoft has also been the subject of unfavourable official scrutiny from the Chinese government. There was a monopoly probe launched in 2014, which intensified earlier this year when the government asked Redmond to explain alleged problems with the data it had provided. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like