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| File:Baidu-Screenshot.JPGBaidu.com screenshot taken in 2007 | |
| Type of business | Public (Nasdaq: BIDU) |
|---|---|
| Available in | Chinese Japanese (baidu.jp) |
| Founded | Beijing, China, 2000 |
| Headquarters |  Beijing, China |
| Area served | China, Japan |
| Founder(s) | Robin Li and Eric Xu |
| Key people | Robin Li (Chair, CEO) Jennifer Li (CFO) Ye Peng (COO) |
| Industry | Internet search |
| Products | Search engine |
| Services | Internet search services |
| Revenue | ¥1.74 billion (2007) (about $228 million)  |
| Operating income | ¥547.15 million (2007) |
| Profit | ¥628.97 million (2007) |
| Employees | 6,252 |
| Subsidiaries | Baidu, Inc. (Japan) |
| URL | Baidu.com |
| Advertising | PPC |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | October 11, 1999 |
| Current status | Active |
Baidu (Chinese: 百度; pinyin: Bǎidù) (Nasdaq: BIDU) is the leading Chinese search engine for websites, audio files, and images. Baidu offers 57 search and community services including an online collaboratively-built encyclopedia (Baidu Baike), and a searchable keyword-based discussion forum. As of March 21, 2008, Baidu is ranked 19 overall in Alexa's internet rankings. In December 2007 Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index.
Baidu provides an index of over 740 million web pages, 80 million images, and 10 million multimedia files. The domain baidu.com attracted at least 5.5 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com scentury.
Many people have asked about the meaning of our name. 'Baidu' was inspired by a poem written more than 800 years ago during the Song Dynasty. The poem compared the search for a retreating beauty amid chaotic glamour with the search for one's dream while confronted by life's many obstacles. '...hundreds and thousands of times, for her I searched in chaos, suddenly, I turned by chance, to where the lights were waning, and there she stood.' Baidu, whose literal meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search for the ideal.
Services
Baidu started with a popular music search feature called "MP3 Search" and its comprehensive lists of popular Chinese music based on download numbers. Baidu locates file formats such as MP3, WMA and SWF. The multimedia search feature is mainly used in searches for Chinese pop music. While such works are copyrighted under Chinese law, Baidu claims on its legalese page that linking to these files does not break Chinese law.
Chinese government and industry sources stated that Baidu received a license from Beijing, which allows the search engine to become a fully-fledged news website. Thus Baidu will be able to provide its own reports, besides showing certain results as a search engine. The company is already getting its news department ready. Baidu is the first Chinese search engine to receive such a license.
Baidu has started its own search engine in Japan found at www.baidu.jp; it is the first regular service that the company provides outside of China. It includes a search bar for web page and image searches, user help and advanced services.
Baidu's MP3 Search feature has been criticized by the Office of the United States Trade Representative's Special 301 report stating that “Baidu as the largest of an estimated seven or more China-based ‘MP3 search engines’ offering deep links to song files for downloads or streaming.”
Baidu's brand advertising feature can help the advertisers to show a branded message including images to largely increase brand awareness and click-through rate (up to 75%).
See: Intellectual property in the People's Republic of China
Censorship
In compliance with the Internet censorship policies of China, the Chinese language version of Baidu filters material from its search results as prescribed by the government.
Advertising scandal
On November 15 and 16 2008, the state-owned China Central Television exposed that Baidu uses fraudulent high-cost-per-click advertisements as its search results. Also, many smaller websites were blocked by Baidu as a result of not opting-in to Baidu's advertising programs. The news report was broadcast nationally during the lunch 30' news, which is one of the most popular programs for CCTV.
On November 17, 2008, Baidu issued an apology. The apology stated, "We put too much effort in competing technically with Google, and in doing so overlooked our advertising system and its management."
As a result of the exposure, Baidu's share price on NASDAQ shrank by approximately 25%.
See also
References
- "Company Profile for Baidu.com Inc (BIDU)". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- "Baidu's 57 Products/Services: Introduction and History". China Analyst (CNAnalyst.com).
- "Alexa Web Search - Top 500". Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- "LA Times, 10 December 2007, "Baidu search yields success in China"".
- "MSN Money - BIDU". MSN Money. Retrieved 2006-05-11.
- "Baidu website".
- "Google's Lookalike is Expanding in China". Gadget4boys.com. 23 January 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "China's Google in Japan". Infoniac.com. March 23 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "2007 Special 301 Report" (PDF). Office of the United States Trade Representative. 30 April 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "China Search Marketing With Baidu Whitepaper" (PDF). Rocky Fu's digital marketing blog. 14 April 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "央视再查百度竞价排名灰幕:内部员工帮助造假". CCTV新闻30分. 16 November 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - (Chinese original:为了与Google这样全球领先的技术公司进行竞争,百度过多的关注了技术和研发,而对销售运营缺乏严格的管理和系统的投入)"百度回应央视曝光问题:我们表示真诚的歉意". SINA. 17 November 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Baidu shares sink, analyst cites Chinese TV report". AP/Associated Press. 17 November 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)