Thursday, September 15, 2005

Baidu Challenges Google In China

Baidu, the search engine taking China by storm, literally means "hundreds of times" in relation to one's search "for the ideal," a notion borrowed from an ancient Chinese poem. The BBC reports that finally there may be evidence that Baidu has edged out Google as the internet search leader in China recently, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4197834.stm

I visited one of the pages of Baidu for a clue into what their bent on Chinese internet search was all about, http://ir.baidu.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=188488&p=irol-homeprofile
The impetus behind Baidu. com is so steeped in Chinese tradition and cultural concepts that it is no wonder the search engine is slowly overtaking the nonsensically named Google.

In fact, in their brief explanation of their attention to internet search marketing they explained how their mechanism is so NOT a Pay per Click methodology, as it is a "Pay for Performance" model. Hmmmmm, geewhiz, "performance," you say?