News Summary: Google feature to help China users

The Associated Press
FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, flowers are placed on the Google logo outside Google China headquarters in Beijing, China. Google has fired a new salvo in a censorship battle with Beijing by adding a feature that suggests alternatives for search terms that might result in blocked results. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

NEW FEATURE: Google has a new feature that warns users in China who enter search keywords that might produce blocked results and suggests they try other terms.

THE BACKDROP: It's the latest move in a censorship battle with Beijing, though Google's announcement described the change as a technical improvement and made no mention of Beijing's extensive Internet controls.

RECENT CENSORSHIP: In recent weeks, filters were tightened so severely that searches fail for some restaurants, universities or tourist information. Authorities were trying to stamp out talk about an embarrassing scandal over the fall of a rising Communist Party star.