October 19, 2009

Baidu Enters Mobile Search Agreement with China Unicom

Baidu has been selected by China Unicom to provide wireless search for its 3G mobile subscribers. Baidu's search will be embedded in China Unicom's 3G phone modules.

''We are very excited to join hands with China Unicom today following our partnership agreement with China Telecom in May,'' said Xuyang Ren, Baidu's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.

China Unicom 3G subscribers will be able to access a variety of Baidu search features including web search, Baidu Knows, Baidu Post Bar, image search, news search, and MP3 search. Baidu will also provide search for China Unicom's wireless Internet sites.

''As the leader in Chinese language search, we hope that Baidu's cooperation with major telecom providers in China will accelerate the development of 3G services and allow us to provide the rapidly growing population of mobile search users better access to information,'' concluded Ren.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 28, 2009

Baidu Launches Wireless Search Service in Beta in Japan

Chinese search engine Baidu has launched a wireless search service in Japan. The beta search service will build upon Baidu.jp including image and video search as well as special features developed specifically for the Japanese audience.

Wireless internet is widely used in Japan. Over 80% of Japanese Internet users log on wirelessly. 3G adoption has reached over 100 million, more than 90% of Japan's population.

"We are very excited to launch wireless search in Japan, where we believe there is huge demand for a high quality wireless search service," said Xuyang Ren, Baidu's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "With the launch of this beta wireless search service we hope to give users in Japan a convenient tool for finding the information they need. We look forward to developing this service further and tuning it to user preferences over the coming months."

Baidu entered the Japanese search market in January 2008. Baidu already has partnership with wireless carriers in Japan to be the official search provider for various handsets.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 31, 2009

Global Search Market Tops Over 100 Billion Searches a Month

comScore has just released a study of the global search market that shows more than 113 billion searches were conducted in July 2009. This represents a 41 percent increase compared to a year ago.

Google attracted significantly more searches than any other search engine with 76.7 billion searches conducted, giving it 67.5 percent market share. Yahoo! ranked second worldwide with 8.9 billion searches (7.8 percent share), followed closely by Chinese search engine Baidu with 8 billion searches (7.0 percent share). Most of the top search properties worldwide experienced significant growth in search query volume versus last year, with Russian search engine Yandex growing at the fastest rate (94 percent) among the top ten.

It is worth noting that Europe accounted for the highest share of searches at 32.1 percent, followed by Asia Pacific (30.8 percent) and North America (22.1 percent). Among the five global regions, Latin America exhibited the heaviest search behavior per person with an average of 13 search usage days in July and 130 searches per searcher. Europe had the second highest overall search volume per person (117 searches per searcher) while North America exhibited the second heaviest frequency (12.5 search usage days per searcher).

This makes it as important to attend SES Berlin November 24-25, 2009, as it does to attend SES Chicago December 7-10, 2009. Why?

As Mike Grehan, the newly-anointed VP and Global Content Director at SES, SEW, and ClickZ, told me earlier this month, search isn't a static topic. The changes in the industry are accelerating. Can anyone afford to be behind the times in this new era?

Mike Grehan, the new VP and Global Content Director, ties social media to search, SES San Jose 2009

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 18, 2008

Baidu Responds to Accusations of Questionable Practices

China Central Television (CCTV), the largest state-owned television network in China, recently ran a report accusing Baidu of questionable practices regarding medical search advertising. The accusations suggest that Baidu was allowing non-licensed medical companies to advertise while preventing some of the licensed ones from bidding on popular medical terms.

Baidu engaged in talks with CCTV to learn more about their accusations. They also removed paid search listings of medical companies who did not have proper licensing on file with Baidu.

Baidu maintains that they do not prevent the licensed companies from advertising. Advertising by medical companies makes up about 10-15% of Baidu's revenue.

Of course, this is not the first time that state entities in China have caused unnecessary, undemocratic problems for Baidu.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

Baidu Launches C2C Site, Youa.com

Baidu is getting in the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) game (think eBay or indie sellers on Amazon.com) with a new site, Youa.com.

In the beginning, 10,000 sellers were chosen from over 100,000 applicants. 50,000 customers were chosen from Baidu's online communities.

"Baidu Youa continues Baidu's tradition of providing the best possible online experience for our users," said Mr. Jun Yu, Baidu's vice president of products. "This new C2C platform provides user-friendly shopping with emphasis on customer service." Mr. Yu continued, "Our expansion into China's early- stage e-commerce market is a natural move for Baidu as Chinese netizens are becoming more comfortable shopping online. With our vast user community, technological expertise, mature product offering and deep understanding of Chinese Internet landscape, we believe that we have a competitive edge in China's C2C arena and look forward to taking full advantage of the growth potential of this sector of the Internet."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

Baidu's Profit Increases 91% in Third Quarter 2008

Chinese search engine Baidu saw a whopping 91% increase in the third quarter of 2008. The search engine had been seeing explosive growth leading up to the Beijing Olympics, which occurred during the third quarter.

Baidu expects profits in the fourth quarter to be around 80-85%. In the second quarter, Baidu's profits increased by 87%.

Here's the full press release:

Baidu Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results Wednesday October 22, 5:00 pm ET

BEIJING, Oct. 22 -- Baidu.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU - News), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008. (1)

Third Quarter 2008 Highlights -- Total revenues in the third quarter of 2008 increased to RMB919.1 million (US$135.4 million), representing an 85.1 % increase from the corresponding period in 2007. -- Operating profit in the third quarter of 2008 increased to RMB368.3 million (US$54.2 million), representing a 119.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2007. -- Net income in the third quarter of 2008 increased to RMB347.9 million (US$51.2 million), representing a 91.4 % increase from the corresponding period in 2007. -- Diluted earnings per share ("EPS") for the third quarter of 2008 were RMB10.00 (US$1.47); diluted EPS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2008 were RMB10.49 (US$1.54). Costs and expenses related to Baidu's Japan operations, incurred in both Japan and China, in the third quarter of 2008 were RMB32.7 million (US$4.8 million), which reduced diluted EPS by RMB0.94 (US$0.14). -- The number of active online marketing customers during the third quarter grew to over 194,000, an increase of 7.2% from the previous quarter.

"I'm pleased to announce solid results for the third quarter," said Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and chief executive officer. "As China's leader in paid search, Baidu has a large and diverse customer base covering numerous industries and sectors. Such diversity gives us great stability and positions us to capture future growth. Companies throughout China are increasingly recognizing the value of Baidu's paid search as an effective marketing tool and we remain confident in our long-term growth potential."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, said, "The impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on our business was in line with our projection for the quarter. We were also able to improve our operating margin again this quarter, highlighting the scalability of our business."

Baidu recently launched the beta version of an online C2C platform that enables merchants to sell their products and services online via a Baidu- registered store. The new platform complements Baidu's search business, enabling transaction fulfillment among our users. E-commerce is an emerging industry in China and there are vast opportunities for future growth in the sector. Baidu will continue to focus on providing the best quality experience for Internet users.

Third Quarter 2008 Results

Baidu reported total revenues of RMB919.1 million (US$135.4 million) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008, representing an 85.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2007.

Online marketing revenues for the third quarter were RMB918.2 million (US$135.2 million), representing an 85.1% increase from the third quarter of 2007. Growth was mainly driven by increases in both the number of active online marketing customers and revenue per customer. Baidu had more than 194,000 active online marketing customers in the third quarter of 2008, representing a sequential increase of 7.2% and an increase of 35.7% from the corresponding period in 2007. Revenue per active online marketing customer for the third quarter increased to approximately RMB4,700 (US$692), a sequential increase of 6.8% and an increase of 34.3% from the corresponding period in 2007.

Traffic acquisition costs (TAC) as a component of cost of revenues were RMB108.8 million (US$16.0 million), representing 11.8% of total revenues, compared to 11.9% in the corresponding period in 2007.

Bandwidth costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB48.0 million (US$7.1 million), representing 5.2% of total revenues, compared to 6.4% in the corresponding period in 2007. Depreciation costs as a component of cost of revenues were RMB56.9 million (US$8.4 million), representing 6.2% of total revenues, compared to 8.2% in the corresponding period in 2007.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB163.2 million (US$24.0 million), representing an increase of 48.0% from the corresponding period in 2007, primarily due to the expansion of the direct sales force and an increase in customer service staff.

Research and development expenses were RMB78.2 million (US$11.5 million), representing a 109.0 % increase from the corresponding period in 2007, primarily due to an increase in research and development staff.

Share-based compensation expenses, which were allocated to related operating cost and expense line items, increased in aggregate by 211.1% to RMB17.0 million (US$2.5 million) in the third quarter of 2008 from RMB5.5 million in the corresponding period in 2007. The increase in share-based compensation expenses primarily reflects an increase in the number of options granted to employees.

Operating profit was RMB368.3 million (US$54.2 million), representing a 119.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2007. Operating profit excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB385.3 million (US$56.8 million) for the third quarter of 2008, a 122.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2007.

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP), which is defined in this announcement as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, other non-operating income and share-based compensation expenses, were RMB457.3 million (US$67.4 million) for the third quarter of 2008, representing a 104.7% increase from the corresponding period in 2007.

Income tax expense was RMB34.8 million (US$5.1 million), compared to an income tax expense of RMB2.6 million in the third quarter of 2007. The year- on-year increase in tax expenses was due to higher tax rates applicable to some of our PRC subsidiaries as their tax holidays either expired or partially elapsed.

Net income was RMB347.9 million (US$51.2 million), representing a 91.4% increase from the corresponding period in 2007. Basic and diluted EPS for the third quarter of 2008 amounted to RMB10.15 (US$1.50) and RMB10.00 (US$1.47), respectively.

Net income excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB364.9 million (US$53.7 million), a 94.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2007. Basic and diluted EPS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2008 were RMB10.65 (US$1.57) and RMB10.49 (US$1.54), respectively.

As of September 30, 2008, Baidu's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments amounted to RMB2.3 billion (US$338.0 million). Net operating cash inflow and capital expenditures on a cash basis for the third quarter of 2008 were RMB482.2 million (US$71.0 million) and RMB85.1 million (US$12.5 million), respectively. A portion of our capital expenditure for the quarter was related to the construction of Baidu's new campus facility.

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2008

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB1,025 million (US$151 million) to RMB1,055 million (US$155 million) for the fourth quarter of 2008, representing an 80% to 85% increase from the corresponding period in 2007 and a 12% to 15% increase from the third quarter of 2008. This fourth quarter forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

(1) This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB 6.7899 to USD 1.00, the effective noon buying rate as of September 30, 2008 in The City of New York for cable transfers of RMB as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Conference Call Information

Baidu's management will hold an earnings conference call on October 22, 2008 at 8:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 AM, October 23, Beijing/Hong Kong time).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: US: +1-617-786-2902 UK: +44-207-365-8426 Hong Kong: +852-3002-1672 Passcode for all regions: 55689997

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following number until October 29, 2008:

International: +1-617-801-6888

Passcode: 69587650

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at http://ir.baidu.com .

About Baidu

Baidu.com, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best way for people to find information. In addition to serving Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu's ADSs, each of which represents one Class A ordinary share, currently trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU".

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the outlook for the fourth quarter of 2008 and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Baidu's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Baidu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: our growth strategies; our future business development, results of operations and financial condition; our ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese language and Japanese language Internet search markets; competition for online marketing customers; changes in our revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of our revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to copyright and other intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese language and Japanese language Internet search markets and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; and Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet content providers. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of October 22, 2008, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Baidu's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following measures which are non-GAAP financial measures: adjusted EBITDA, operating profit excluding share-based compensation expenses, net income excluding share-based compensation expenses, and basic and diluted EPS excluding share-based compensation expenses. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures" and "Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to adjusted EBITDA" set forth at the end of this release.

Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses and expenditures that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to Baidu's historical performance and liquidity. Baidu computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter since April 1, 2006. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using non-GAAP operating profit excluding share-based compensation expenses, net income excluding share-based compensation expenses, and basic and diluted EPS excluding share-based compensation expenses is that these non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation charge that has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in our business. A limitation of using non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA is that it does not include all items that impact our net income for the period. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.

Baidu.com, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

September 30 December 31, (in RMB thousands) 2008 2007 Unaudited Audited

ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 2,088,554 1,350,600 Short-term investments 206,360 242,037 Accounts receivable, net 100,193 64,274 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 109,597 65,996 Deferred tax assets, net 2,587 2,587 Total current assets 2,507,291 1,725,494

Non-current assets: Fixed assets, net 748,582 678,886 Land use right, net 95,008 96,472 Intangible assets, net 33,814 40,460 Goodwill 51,081 51,093 Investments, net 20,197 15,439 Deferred tax assets, net 17,060 15,716 Other non-current assets 84,394 32,348 Total non-current assets 1,050,136 930,414

TOTAL ASSETS 3,557,427 2,655,908

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accrued expenses and other liabilities 371,745 359,310 Customers' deposits 357,884 257,577 Deferred revenue 9,149 11,832 Deferred income 633 2,485 Total current liabilities 739,411 631,204

Non-current liabilities: Long-term payable -- 3,000 Deferred income -- 332 Total non-current liabilities -- 3,332

Total liabilities 739,411 634,536

Shareholders' equity Class A Ordinary Shares, Par value US$0.00005 per share, 825,000,000 shares authorized, and 25,136,147 shares and 25,413,789 shares issued and outstanding as at December 31, 2007 and September 30, 2008 11 10 Class B Ordinary Shares, Par value US$0.00005 per share, 35,400,000 shares authorized, and 8,996,842 shares and 8,873,986 shares issued and outstanding as at December 31, 2007 and September 30, 2008 4 4 Additional paid-in capital 1,254,593 1,171,575 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (127,770) (81,953) Retained earnings 1,691,178 931,736 Total shareholders' equity 2,818,016 2,021,372

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 3,557,427 2,655,908

Baidu.com, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

For the Three Months Ended September September 30, 30, June 30, (in RMB thousands except for share, 2008 2007 2008 per share information) Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited

Revenues: Online marketing services 918,179 496,120 802,183 Other services 946 410 428 Total revenues 919,125 496,530 802,611

Operating costs and expenses: Cost of revenues (note 1, 2) (309,342) (180,704) (280,980) Selling, general and administrative (note 2) (163,247) (110,312) (174,213) Research and development (note 2) (78,231) (37,433) (71,078) Total operating costs and expenses (550,820) (328,449) (526,271)

Operating profit 368,305 168,081 276,340

Other income: Interest income 11,375 12,519 10,378 Exchange loss, net (5) (331) (204) Other income, net 3,009 4,040 7,032 Total other income 14,379 16,228 17,206

Income before income taxes 382,684 184,309 293,546

Income taxes (34,825) (2,580) (28,561)

Net income 347,859 181,729 264,985

Earnings per share for Class A and Class B ordinary shares: Basic 10.15 5.35 7.74 Diluted 10.00 5.23 7.62

Weighted average aggregate number of Class A and Class B ordinary shares outstanding: Basic 34,257,974 33,983,137 34,217,081 Diluted 34,786,353 34,763,639 34,786,342

(1) Cost of revenues are detailed as follows: Business tax and surcharges (57,288) (30,702) (49,511) Traffic acquisition costs (108,797) (59,155) (101,693) Bandwidth costs (48,029) (31,837) (43,012) Depreciation costs (56,907) (40,654) (57,790) Operational costs (37,379) (17,979) (27,795) Share-based compensation expenses (942) (377) (1,179) Total cost of revenues (309,342) (180,704) (280,980)

(2) Includes share-based compensation expenses as follows: Cost of revenues (942) (377) (1,179) Selling, general and administrative (6,933) (68) (16,484) Research and development (9,149) (5,027) (11,618) Total share-based compensation expenses (17,024) (5,472) (29,281)

Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures (*) (in RMB thousands, unaudited)

Three months ended September 30, 2007 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Operating profit 168,081 5,472 173,553

Three months ended September 30, 2007 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Net income 181,729 5,472 187,201

Three months ended June 30, 2008 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Operating profit 276,340 29,281 305,621

Three months ended June 30, 2008 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Net income 264,985 29,281 294,266

Three months ended September 30, 2008 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Operating profit 368,305 17,024 385,329

Three months ended September 30, 2008 GAAP Result Adjustment Non-GAAP Results Net income 347,859 17,024 364,883

(*) The adjustment is only for share-based compensation.

Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to adjusted EBITDA(*) (in RMB thousands, unaudited)

Three As a Three As a Three As a months % of months % of months % of ended total ended total ended total September revenues June 30, revenues September revenues 30, 2007 2008 30, 2008 Net cash provided by operating activities 254,870 51% 403,378 50% 482,172 52%

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions (17,800) -4% (37,893) -5% (45,293) -5% Income taxes expenses 2,580 1% 28,561 4% 34,825 4% Interest income and other, net (16,228) -3% (17,206) -2% (14,379) -1%

Adjusted EBITDA 223,422 45% 376,840 47% 457,325 50%

(*) Definition of adjusted EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, other non-operating income, and share- based compensation expenses.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

August 7, 2008

Omniture's SearchCenter Now Integrated with Chinese Search Engine Baidu.com

One day before the Olympics in Beijing, Ominture has announced that its SearchCenter integration with Chinese search engine Baidu.com is now available.

"Successful search management strategies are paramount for enterprises and interactive agencies that do global online marketing," said Josh James, CEO and co-founder at Omniture. "SearchCenter gives businesses increased advantages by managing search marketing campaigns to the vast Chinese Internet audience that predominantly uses Baidu.com for search."

Baidu recently posted an 87% profit for the second quarter of 2008. By the time of the next summer Olympics, China is expected to exceed the U.S. in internet use. Baidu currently enjoys 76% of the Chinese language search market.

"While the Chinese Internet audience has continued to grow, so has the interest in targeting this large economy through paid and natural search marketing," said Haoyu Shen, Baidu.com's vice president of business operations. "By integrating Baidu.com's search metrics with Omniture, we believe online marketers can better measure campaigns and increase conversion by making the search experience more relevant."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 24, 2008

Baidu Profits Soar 87% in Second Quarter

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo may have disappointed Wall Street, but Baidu is proving to be a Dark Knight in this tough economy.

Boosted by advertising sales in advance of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese search engine posted an 87% jump in profits in the second quarter of 2008. Net profit came in at $38.6 million, beating expectations of $35.5 million.

Baidu owned 63% of the search market in China, accoring to iResearch. Google had 26% and Yahoo came in third at 8%.

source: Reuters

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

Forget Google's 20% Jump, Baidu UP 78% In Month

The strength of Chinese search engine Baidu in the Asian market - beating Google in the valued China market - has been reflected in investor confidence it seems. While Google made back some of their recent drop in value, it is the 78% rise in Baidu over the past month that is truly impressive.

The Motley Fool asks "Do You Believe in Baidu?" And seem to present a good argument to do so.

"Baidu has been on the move in many ways, expanding outside its search engine stronghold with recent forays into instant messaging, consumer auctions, online games, and even a bold leap into the mature yet lucrative Japanese search engine market," they report.

Nice to see another engine growing in a Google like manner, both financially and corporately.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:03 AM | Permalink

February 29, 2008

Baidu Search Engine Launches IM in Beta - Baidu Hi

Search engine Baidu has launched instant messaging (IM) in beta, the first formal foray into the Chinese IM market. The "Baidu Hi" service won't be expected to generate revenue in the short term. But the Chinese search titan must find a way to diversify its revenue base.

The Chinese language search engine recently launched a Japanese portal.

Baidu, China's most popular search engine, has more than 60 percent of the search engine industry revenues, according to Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm.

Google China holds second place with about 26 percent share.

Yahoo China site remains in third with a little less than 10 percent share.

Baidu considers the service a strategic product, according to the Chinese search engine's press release issued tonight.

As with Google, search drives revenue for the fast-growing Baidu. For the past three years Baidu has doubled in size every year. The growth rate may drop to 30 percent in the next five years as Baidu's revenue base grows.

The beta is restricted to Baidu employees only. No word on how long the beta will last or when the product will officially launch.

One company, Tencent, based in Shenzhen has about 80 percent of the IM market share in China with its QQ service. How large is Tencent's customer base? QQ has 580 million users. The company earned 1 billion yuan in the Q3 last year through Internet services.

In second place, Microsoft's MSN Instant Messaging runs far behind Tencent's QQ platform.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 11:06 PM | Permalink

June 5, 2007

Chinese Engine Baidu Enters European Market

Baidu, China's leading search engine, is spreading out into Europe according to IDG News..

The successful challenger to Google - okay just in China - may find this market a little more difficult to conquer. Meanwhile domain squatters like Baidu-europe.eu are already riding in on the Baidu cache.

"Baidu CFO Shawn Wang is expected to outline the group's expansion plans in London later this month, when the company attends its first Nasdaq investor day since listing on the exchange in 2005" the UK Telegraph web site stated.

UPDATE: Baidu.com on Friday told Infoworld that it is not planning to expand into Europe, and that those rumors are groundless.

Posted by Frank Watson at 3:24 PM | Permalink

March 27, 2007

Baidu Launches Japanese Search Engine

Baidu, the Chinese search engine partially owned by Google, has launched Baidu.jp - a Japanese search engine. Their intentions to expand into the Japanese market were made know last year and the Japanese language search engine was not expected until later in the year. Baidu intends to eventual expand into other Asian markets as well as Europe and the United States. The engine holds the largest market share in China.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:19 AM | Permalink

December 10, 2006

Baidu Starts Chinese Blog Search Engine

Chinese search engine giant Baidu has launched a blog search engine - the first in the China. Nearly 20 million people blog in Chinese.

The new blog engine launched on Thursday, according to the People's Daily Online. China has 1,460 blog services. Qzone has the most bloggers followed by Sina.com, MSN Spaces and Sohu.com.

Posted by Frank Watson at 8:21 AM | Permalink

November 22, 2006

Baidu Wins Copyright Case Against Music Companies

Melanie Colburn writes that Music Labels Lose Copyright Suit Against Baidu, which started back when Five Music Companies Sue Baidu in September of 2005. Baidu was previously ordered to stop these music downloads but it appears the ruling was overturned because all Baidu is providing are links to 3rd party sites that facilitate the music downloads, whereas Baidu does not participate in the downloads themselves. More details at the BBC News.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:37 AM | Permalink

September 18, 2006

Baidu Holds 62% Share In China

LinuxWorld reports that Baidu, the Chinese search engine, has 62.1 percent share based on a China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) report. That is up 10 points from 52 percent in 2005. In terms of brand recognition in China, 86.5 percent identifying with the name "Baidu," where only 64 percent identifying with the name "Google" in China. The study does state that 76.3 percent use more than one search engine regularly. The article everyone is buzzing about is a NY Times article named The Rise of Baidu (That's Chinese for Google), it really does make for a good read.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:53 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2006

Baidu To Be Default Engine On All HP Computers Ship To China

Philipp Lenssen reports that Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine, will be the default search engine on all new HP's shipped to China after October 2006. As Philipp notes, this is bad for Google who has been pushing hard into the Chinese market. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Baidu's second-quarter earnings were very high, "but didn't meet some investors' higher expectations."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:44 AM | Permalink

June 22, 2006

Google Disposes Of Stake In Baidu

Reuters reports that Google has sold its "modest investment in Baidu." Google owned about two-percent of Baidu.com, worth about $63 million, and "disposed" of that investment on May 25th. Google spokesperson, Debbie Frost said, "It has always been our goal to grow our own successful business in China and we are very focused on that."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 3:13 PM | Permalink

June 6, 2006

Baidu, Chinese Search Engine TV Ad

Baidu, the Chinese based search engine, launched a crazy new TV commercial. The commercial was translated and posted over at Valleywag and can also be watched at YouTube or use the window below:

The commercial has an ending tag line that reads something like; "with Baidu, you can 'find' whoever you want to search for."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:26 AM | Permalink

January 18, 2006

Report: Chinese Searchers Prefer Google Over Homegrown Baidu

Keynote Systems, a research firm that does annual studies of North American searchers and their satisfaction with search engines, has released its first report on the preferences of Chinese searchers. Looking at a number of different criteria the study ranked user satisfaction with four major search players in China: Alibaba/Yahoo!, Baidu, Google China and Sohu/Sogou, and concluded that Google was the favorite, despite trailing Baidu in market share. Today's SearchDay article, Study: Google #1 in China, has the details.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 11:02 AM | Permalink

September 20, 2005

Baidu Ordered To Stop Music Downloads

Baidu ordered to halt music downloading service from Reuters covers Chinese search engine Baidu being ordered by a Chinese court to stop providing music downloads. Baidu plans to appeal, saying it doesn't provide downloading services but rather search services. Music search is a chief driver of Baidu's popularity, as I've written recently. If it's not even allowed to offer music searching, that's likely to put a major crimp in its growth. Five Music Companies Sue Baidu covers other companies that have suits filed against Baidu.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:34 AM | Permalink

September 16, 2005

Five Music Companies Sue Baidu

Baidu sued over music downloads from the Hong, from the Hong Kong Standard, reports that several large music companies are suing Chinese search engine Baidu for allegedly making hundreds of songs easily accessible via their MP3 search tool. The companies filing the lawsuit are Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and their local subsidiaries, Cinepoly, Go East and Gold Label.

What has drawn the industry's ire is the ease with which Internet users can use Baidu's search engine to locate copies of music stored on the Web, even to the point of organizing songs into Top 10 lists by category. When a user clicks on a particular song, the engine provides a direct link to the URL where the file is stored.

Since the search process is automatic, Baidu argues that it is simply providing the basic service offered by all search engines, and is not itself involved in any copyright infringement. In addition, it promises to remove the link if a company can prove it owns the right to a song. "This practice is consistent with legal requirements of PRC law," Baidu said last night.

The industry, however, argues that a Chinese court, in an earlier case, ruled MP3 searches were illegal.

Prior to Baidu's IPO, some speculated that copyright issues might be a concern for the company. We also blogged a report about Baidu removing links to thousands of pirated files from their database.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:36 AM | Permalink

September 6, 2005

Google's China Situation Better Than You Might Think -- And Other China Search News

The China Internet Network Information Center has released a new China Online Search Market Survey Report (PDF file) outlining the search market in China that's well worth a read. And despite headlines you may have seen from this report that painted a gloomy picture for Google, actually reading the report makes me think Google's much better off than you might think.

Let's do some headlines first:

Google loses China market share (BBC)
Google losing ground in China (AP)

The conventional wisdom from limited research released previously on search in China has put home grown search engine Baidu as the category leader. However, when you drill down into this recent report, you find that in specific types of searches, Google probably has the healthier outlook. IE, Baidu may lead with those interested in downloading music, but for those seeking things like shopping and business information, Google is very strong.

Let's dive in with the report's breakdown of the Beijing market share:

Baidu: 51.5%
Google: 32.9%
Sohu: 4.6%
Sina: 4.0%
Yahoo: 3.7%
Others: 3.3%

Market shares for Shanghai and Guangzhou are also listed, but the figures aren't super radically different, so I didn't make a chart up showing all of them side-by-side. Mainly, Baidu slips below the 50 percent mark for these other cities but is still the leader. Google always holds at a healthy second. Yahoo (which can mean 3721, Yisou, Yahoo China or Yahoo anywhere) comes up into third place.

Some important caveats on the figures, however. The report says:

A search engine's market share is determined by the number of users who use that particular search engine as their only or primary one, divided by the number of total users.
"Baidu users" refers to those who use Baidu as their only or primary search engine, and so on.

In other words (as I read it), if someone said that "Baidu" was their primary search engine, then that person counts entirely toward Baidu regardless of whether they also use Google, Sohu or another service. That produces a skew to the data. You obviously want to be the first choice of users, but it could be that for particular types of searches, another search engine might rank better than for the overall totals.

To me, a better way of looking at search market share is to look at actual volume of searches. Our pages for stats from NetRatings, Hitwise and comScore all have figures using this type of basis along with explanations of why it is important.

In fact, the report notes later that Baidu/Google or Google/Baidu are the most popular combinations for searchers, making up 55 percent of those who use two or more search engines.

The report also has a chart showing popularity of search engine by those brand new to searching in the last 6 months. Baidu leads at 48.2 percent, followed by Sohu at 19.6 percent and then Google at 12.5 percent.

There's also a breakdown of what people search for, which is incredibly revealing. More people at Google search for web sites, shopping and business information and reference material than corresponding searchers at Baidu. What's big -- what's powering searches at Baidu? Apparently downloadable music.

In other words, perhaps Baidu is so popular in China because it has served as a type of Napster for the nation. If so, then Google has far less to worry about in the "race" for China, since if these are illegal downloads, it's not a business it wants or can be in. Indeed, just before Baidu went public, it had to act to remove links to pirated music to help sooth copyright concerns.

A chart showing those who use Baidu as their "primary" search engine and Google as "secondary" search engine is fascinating. Baidu "primary" users turn massively to Google for if they can't find their search need (outside of music search) or for undefined "alternative" uses. In contrast, what do those who use Google as their primary search engine depend on at Baidu for their secondary needs? Music search.

A later chart breaks down market share in across a particular vertical segments. In other words, what percentage of all music searchers go to Baidu? A big 74.6 percent. Baidu keeps the majority of searchers also for images and photos (67.8%) and online games (61.0%). After that, it still has more searchers in all but two categories, but the margin over Google is less.

Google wins in the share of those seeking maps, city guides and travel info -- 41.8 percent of searchers to Baidu's 38.8 percent. Google also ties with Baidu for those seeking shopping and business information, 42.5 percent.

There are other Google wins I think are significant. The more money you have, the more likely you are to search with Google. At the highest income level surveyed, those with 5,000 yuan per month (about US $600) or higher, Google has 58.1 percent of the searchers to Baidu's 25.7 percent.

The report summary says that Google's lost market share to Baidu and suggest the worry for Google is that a rising generation might not consider it "cool." But if that's "cool" in terms of downloading free music, Napster's coolness didn't help it thrive. It's not the type a cool that a business may want to be.

My other problem with this is the report showed no historic trends that I can see. Outside of the survey of those brand new to the web, there's no tracking of Google's "lost" share, though I have no reason to doubt Baidu growth in popularity. However, the aforementioned AP article does have some market share increases for Beijing (Baidu up 10 percent) and says Gogole was the largest in all three cities just six months ago, although it too says the report doesn't share figures on this.

Elsewhere in the report are nice overview demographics of searchers in China:

86 percent of Beijing's internet users have used online search
On any day, 38 percent are using search engines, along with frequency of searching
40 percent of searchers are students, nearly half of which are in secondary school
Non student searchers are mostly (62 percent) aged 25-40
66 percent of searchers use two or more brand name search engines
Male/female breakdown of searchers
Breakdown by education (Google has a whopping 75 percent of users with a doctorate and 50 percent of those with postgraduate degrees. Baidu is the industry leader in all other education categories starting from middle school and including those with 4 year degrees)

For more, the LA Times had an excellent article three weeks ago, "Baidu.com Went From Unknown to No. 1 Search Engine in China" from the LA Times. It was here and is still listed on Google News as if it is there, but now you have to buy here.

The article looked at how the Chinese governments blocking of Google has helped boost Baidu presence in China, suggesting even that Baidu employees might report things the Chinese government might want to block -- an accusation Baidu's CFO said he wasn't aware of. I'd been wondering if blocking like this, however it happened, could have helped with Baidu's rise. Apparently so.

Internet Search Giants Hurry Into Chinese Market from Dow Jones is another nice recent read looking at the growth of the Chinese search marketing and interest in it. A nice refresher, for those wanting to catch up on recent moves.

Meanwhile, Autonomy readies for content wars looks at how enterprise search company Autonomy has partnered with one of China's biggest internet companies to create a news and video search service for the country.

Finally, I mentioned last week the new Chinawhite blog where Shakil Khan -- known as Shak on to those of various search forums -- will be covering news of search out of China. Check it out. And if you want to learn more about Shak, China White from Matt Marshall over at SiliconBeat out today has a great profile of him.

Postscript: You'll find that LA Times article now available free to registered members at the San Jose Mecury News here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:44 PM | Permalink

August 5, 2005

Baidu.com Goes Public, Shares Soar

Chinese web search engine Baidu.com (Google is a minority shareholder) went public today with its IPO on NASDAQ. Shares opened at $66 more than tripling the IPO price of $27. As I post this item shares are trading at $92. Also, Baidu's CEO, Robin Li, did not comment on rumors that Google tried to buy the company prior to today's IPO.

In an interview with CNBC, he [Robin Li] said the company is "happy" to have Google as a shareholder and that Baidu.com "will keep its options open" as it moves ahead.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:09 PM | Permalink

August 1, 2005

Baidu.com Gets Ready For IPO

Although a specific date hasn't been set yet, stories about Chinese web search engine Baidu.com, and its upcoming IPO continue to appear. The AP's Joe McDonald does a nice roundup of info about the company.

The article offers bio details about company founder, Robin Li.
A definition of the word Baidu.
The article also mentions that Google owns 2.1% of Baidu.com while Yahoo owns 3721.com, another Chinese search engine.

The article concludes that like the Google home page, the Baidu.com home page is sparse while the 3721.com home page is "busier" like what's seen at Yahoo.com. I wonder if 3721.com also offers a clutter-free page like Yahoo does at search.yahoo.com? (-:

Posted by Gary Price at 1:47 PM | Permalink

July 19, 2005

Baidu Removing Links to Pirated Music Files from Database

Last week we blogged about Baidu's IPO announcement and included a link to Matt Marshall's post that included a discussion of possible copyright issues that Baidu might face as a company traded in the US. Apparently copyright concerns were also a major issue for Baidu execs especially after hearing from a music licensing organization. Today, word from Shanghai that Baidu is removing links to as many as 50,000 pirated music files.

R2G Chief Operating Officer Scarlett Li told the newspaper that Baidu had taken out Web links to more than 3,000 music files of a single popular Chinese song alone. She added that the search engine was also looking into links to more than 50,000 files.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:01 PM | Permalink

July 13, 2005

Chinese Search Company Baidu Files for NASDAQ IPO

Baidu files to go public on Nasdaq from SiliconBeat covers Chinese search provider Baidu filing for an IPO on the NASDAQ. The company hopes to raise $80 million with the offering. SiliconBeat's post also contains links to the prospectus and some discussion about what US copyright laws, if any, Baidu might be subject to regarding music downloads.

Google is a minority investor in Baidu, and its interest was covered recently in our Google CEO Schmidt Visits China Interest In Baidu Buyout? post. Other related posts from us are Local Search Goes to China and Baidu Beginning Work on a Film Search Engine.

See also Baidu.com, China's Market Share Search Engine Leader, Files for NASDAQ IPO with U.S. SEC (hat tip, Shak) for more background on Baidu, including cofounder Robin Li's Infoseek roots.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:41 PM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

China News For Google, Baidu & Yahoo

Lots of news in terms of China and search, ranging from Google perhaps eyeing Baidu, Baidu saying it's happy staying independent and Yahoo China losing its president.

Google facing search engine China quandary from the San Jose Mercury News looks anew at reasons why Google might be interested in owning more of the homegrown and apparently popular Baidu search engine. Google has a 4 percent share now. Gaining more might give Google access to Baidu advertisers, or perhaps more distribution for its own existing ads or perhaps give it a way to reach more of China without having to impose censorship on its own web search results at Google.

Meanwhile, Baidu makes first response to Google purchase rumor from the People's Online Daily has Baidu saying that it "belives independent development is its best way out."

Yahoo China President offers sudden resignation, also from the People's Online Daily, covers the departure of Yahoo China's president.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:48 AM | Permalink

July 5, 2005

Google CEO Schmidt Visits China; Interest In Baidu Buyout?

Google hovers as Baidu readies IPO from TheDeal.com covers how Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been spotted recently in China meeting with officials of the Chinese Baidu search engine. Google owns a 4 percent stake of that service, which is to be the most used in the country. Google confirms he was there but wouldn't say the visit revolved around buying more of Baidu or another homegrown service. Figures on popularity I've seen seem to come primarily from research service iResearch. The free report they provide on the search market in China for 2004 doesn't show these figures. They may be in the paid version. This article says Baidu has 33 percent of the search marketing in China, "outpacing" any other competitors. But Google's listed not that far back in third place, at 22 percent. Second place isn't cited.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:15 AM | Permalink

April 12, 2005

Local Search Goes to China

The local search boom is truly global in scope.

Baidu.com, the large web search engine from .CN that Google is a minority investor in has announced a partnership deal with the China Telecom Yellow Pages.

Baidu spokesperson Mr. Sheng Bi says, "Shanghai's tele-information center receives over 300,000 phone calls a day, which evidences the enormous need for local search. This partnership will allow Baidu to integrate China Telecom Yellow Page's national business listings into Baidu's local search results, making local search on Baidu more practical and reliable."

Hmm, you've got to think that Google Local China and Yahoo Local China are coming soon. Mobile versions too!

February 1, 2005

Another Web Search IPO in the Works

The Reuters article: China search engine eyes IPO informs us that Chinese search provider Baidu.com has plans for a U.S. IPO sometime this year looking to raise $200 million. In June 2004, Google became a minority investor in Baidu.com.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:05 PM | Permalink

December 15, 2004

Baidu Beginning Work on a Film Search Engine

A report from ChinaTechNews says that Chinese search engine Baidu is recruiting technical staff, "to research and develop a new search tool for indexing millions of hours of movies."

The news brief does not speculate on how Baidu might use this technology.

In 2004 Google acquired a minority interest in Baidu and as News.com reported less than a a month ago, Google is also developing multimedia search technology.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:23 AM | Permalink

October 13, 2004

Baidu Set to Double Revenue in 2004

According to this Reuters article, Chinese search company Baidu will see their revenues double in 2004. Google holds a minority stake in the company.

The country's search market will be worth an estimated $50 million this year and its expected to grow to $200m by 2006, according to iResearch. A recent iResearch survey found that Baidu is nearly twice as popular among Chinese Internet users as Google, with a market share of about 49 percent. But competition has been rising after Yahoo beefed up its presence by buying 3721 for $120m late last year.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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