Having conquered the West with its innovative paid-search model, American technology firm Google now has its sights set on China. The top Internet company is courting the Chinese government in hopes of making Google the mainland's preferred search engine.

But Google's foray into China has not been without controversy. To gain access to the country's one-billion citizens, the Mountain View, Calif., firm has agreed to various censorship concessions. For example, Google China blocks or filters search results of politically sensitive terms such as "democracy" and "Tiananmen Square."

The situation raises ethical questions, especially coming from a company whose motto is "do no evil." Free-speech advocates claim Google is supporting China's human rights crackdown just to make a buck; other critics note the irony that Google adamantly refuses to block children's access to pornographic and violent content in the U.S.

Although Google is hearing tough talk from critics and lawmakers alike, dubious concessions to Chinese nationalism aren't likely to derail the tech giant's global momentum. The company's ad revenues are soaring, and Google's innovative search technology is the best in the world. Even so, the U.S. government continues to investigate, and analysts say ethics concerns could yet spark a public backlash.