When Google rolled out google.cn, the censored and localized version of Google to the Chinese market, Google insisted that they had no other choice. Google argued that the "user experience" was awful and Google had no choice but to fix it:

Google users in China today struggle with a service that, to be blunt, isn't very good. Google.com appears to be down around 10% of the time. Even when users can reach it, the website is slow, and sometimes produces results that when clicked on, stall out the user's browser. Our Google News service is never available; Google Images is accessible only half the time. At Google we work hard to create a great experience for our users, and the level of service we've been able to provide in China is not something we're proud of.

In short, google.cn was to become the fast and easy search engine in China, and users would flock to it because the alternative was so terrible.

But in yesterday's stockholder meeting, Sergey Brin said that hasn't happened, at least not yet. In a spirited response to a censorship challenge by Tony Cruz of Amnesty International, Brin noted that usage of google.cn is just a fraction of one percent of Google searches in China -- the uncensored google.com is still used for more than 99% of all Google searches.

Brin was trying to make the point that Google hadn't really sold out, and traded their souls for gobs of cash. Google's not profiting from active censorship of political expression, at least not yet.

Maybe word just hasn't gotten out yet that Google has a faster (though lobotomized) search. Or are Chinese citizens are willing to put up with getting blocked 1 time in ten, and enduring the latency of google.com, because they trust it more?

This is outdated, and it is irresponsible to leave this here.

99% of the Chinese users use Google.cn. Just check Alexa or anything else.

At the time of your article, google.cn just launched.