Google Inc. has agreed to censor its results in China, adhering to the country's free-speech restrictions in return for better access in the Internet's fastest growing market.

Google planned to roll out a new version of its search engine bearing China's Web suffix ``.cn,'' on Wednesday. By creating a unique address for China, Google hopes to make its search engine more widely available and easier to use.

Because of government barriers set up to suppress information, Google's China users previously have been blocked from using the search engine or encountered lengthy delays in response time.

To obtain the Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government finds objectionable.

Google officials characterized the censorship concessions in China as an excruciating decision for a company that adopted ``don't be evil'' as a motto. But management believes it's a worthwhile sacrifice

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``We firmly believe, with our culture of innovation, Google can make meaningful and positive contributions to the already impressive pace of development in China,'' said Andrew McLaughlin, Google's senior policy counsel.

Google's decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com for submitting to China's censorship regime.

``This is a real shame,'' said Julien Pain, head of Reporters with Borders' Internet desk. ``When a search engine collaborates with the government like this, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the Internet.''

When Google censors results in China, it intends to post notifications alerting users that some content has been removed -- to comply with local laws. The company provides similar alerts in Germany and France when, to comply with national laws, it censors results to remove references to Nazi paraphernalia.