HONG KONG - NetEase.com Inc, China's third-biggest online games provider, said it may acquire companies to expand its Internet search business, after Google Inc moved its Chinese service offshore.

"If an acquisition can help the development of our search business, then why not go for it," NetEase Chief Executive Officer William Ding said during a conference call on Thursday. The Beijing-based company will also consider acquisitions beyond Web search, he said.

Google, owner of the world's most-popular search service, lost market share in China after redirecting its Google.cn service to a Hong Kong site. NetEase's Youdao search service now accounts for 0.4 percent of the local search-engine market, according to researcher Analysys International.