Reaction poured in blogs, tweets and wired comments had a common thread of users expressing bewilderment what it will mean for internet services they depend on.
The extent of provocation it must have caused to Beijing became apparent as the government was believed to be attempting to block access to Google's new uncensored site in Hong Kong from the mainland.
Vast majority of the comments and blogs on Chinese mainland websites appear to express hate and anger towards Google.
But tweets and comments that appear to come from users in mainland China on websites based outside the country express sympathy and support towards Google, and anger towards the Chinese government.
China's state media came down sharply on Google's decision to quit saying the internet firm had taken a huge misstep in the world's largest online market.
The newspapers claimed that Google would earn little sympathy from users who had been loyal to it in China and following the official line said the firm had turned its dispute on government web censorship and cyberattacks into a political issue.
The Global Times said there was an improvement in China's business climate and urged foreign companies to adapt to "transnational Chinese society".
The exit of Google from China would cleanse the country's internet of "pornographic and subversive content" besides providing a major opening for domestic and international web companies to make a dent into the market, the daily said.
"With the company's credibility among Chinese netizens now plummeting, Google will be greeted with less sympathy and fewer parting sentiments from Chinese Internet users," it said.
"With other search engines not in a position to fully replace Google, netizens will have to cope with the inconvenience from Google's decision," it said.
There was however mixed reaction in blogs which are widely used in China.
There is sharp division between the reactions from Chinese internet users on websites that lie inside and outside Chinese government censorship.
"This kind of company should definitely be cleansed from China! Don't give it any opportunity to do business in China! Do you still assume that we are in the era of the Eight-Power Allied Forces [the intervention by eight nations to end the 1900 Boxer rebellion]?" "The power, status and reputation of a country is unshakable, a blogger commented.
You are just a company that came to China not long ago and you are expecting special privileges? Nuts!" "Get out! I have never used that fart Google. Boycott the American products!" "Just go away. Don't come back! Hong Kong is also a part of China. Don't stay in Hong Kong."
"National interest is above everything. Without the nation nothing will stand. Anyone who insults China is insulting over one billion Chinese people. Stand up Chinese people! Probably Google was here just to cause destruction and destroy Chinese unity."
"We still have Baidu.com. I don't use much Google to start with. Just go. Who cares? Without it, China's internet will become better in the future."
"We welcome the exit of Google from China. We allowed you to earn so much money, and you still caused all this fuss.
But the telling comment came from the China Daily which summarised it could result in "loose-loose situation" for China and the internet giant.