The search results using Google for popular sites such as ninemsn did not include any results for Web sites with a .com.au domain. Australia's major second level domains, such as .gov.au, .net.au and .edu.au seemed unaffected.
However, Google's paid-for advertisements, which appear on the right of regular search results, displayed .com.au domains as normal.
The company confirmed the problem in a statement issued on Friday evening. "For a few hours today, Google experienced temporary problems showing .com.au domains. The cause was quickly identified and is now fixed," it said.
