Baidu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: BIDU) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Beijing, China, 2000 |
| Founder | Robin Li and Eric Xu |
| Headquarters |  Beijing, China |
| Area served | China, Japan |
| 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[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Baidu, Inc. (Japan) |
| Website | Baidu.com |
| Advertising | PPC |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available in | Chinese Japanese (baidu.jp) |
| Launched | 11 October 1999 |
| Current status | Active |
|
Screenshot
|
|
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.[2] In October 2008, Baidu ranked 9 th overall in Alexa's internet rankings.[3] In December 2007 Baidu became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index.[4]
Baidu provides an index of over 740 million web pages, 80 million images, and 10 million multimedia files.[5] The domain baidu.com attracted at least 5.5 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com scentury[6].
| “ | 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.' (Chinese: 众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处) Baidu, whose literal meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search for the ideal. | ” |
Contents |
[edit] 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 legal disclaimer that linking to these files does not break Chinese law. This has lead other local search engines to follow the practice, including Google China, which uses an intermediate company called Top100 to offer a similar MP3 Search service.
Chinese government and Chinese industry sources stated that Baidu received a license from Beijing, which allows the search engine to become a full-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.[7]
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."[8]
Baidu started its own search engine in Japan (www.baidu.jp) – the company's first regular service outside of China. It includes a search bar for web pages and image searches, user help and advanced services.[9]
Baidu Tieba is a the largest Chinese communication platform provided by the Chinese search engine Baidu. It is an online community bound tightly with Baidu's search service.
Baidu's brand advertising feature can help the advertisers to show a branded message including images to increase brand awareness and click-through rates (up to 75%).[10]
The user-agent string of Baidu search engine is baiduspider[11][12].
[edit] Censorship
In compliance with the Internet censorship policies of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese language version of Baidu filters material from its search results as dictated by the government. On April 30, 2009, a large number of documents concerning Baidu's censorship keywords, URLs, and policies for the period November 2008 through March 2009 were leaked.[13]
[edit] Advertising scandal
On 15 and 16 November 2008, the state-owned China Central Television exposed during the popular lunchtime 30-minute news that Baidu used fraudulent high-cost-per-click advertisements as its search results; many smaller websites were blocked by Baidu as a result of not opting-in to Baidu's advertising programs.[14] Baidu's share price on NASDAQ shrank by approximately 25% following the revelation.
On 17 November 2008, Baidu issued an apology which stated, "We put too much effort in competing technically with Google, and in doing so overlooked our advertising system and its management." [15]
[edit] See also
- Baidu Patents
- Baidu 500
- Software industry in China
- China Software Industry Association
- Intellectual property in the People's Republic of China
[edit] References
- ^ "Company Profile for Baidu.com Inc (BIDU)". http://www.zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=BIDU&page=quotesearch. Retrieved on 2008-10-21.
- ^ "Baidu's 57 Products/Services: Introduction and History". China Analyst (CNAnalyst.com). http://www.cnanalyst.com/baidu.html.
- ^ "Alexa Web Search - Baidu traffic details". http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/baidu.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-10.
- ^ "LA Times, 10 December 2007, "Baidu search yields success in China"". http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-baidu10dec10,1,7585164.story?ctrack=1&cset=true.
- ^ "MSN Money - BIDU". MSN Money. http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/research/profile.asp?Symbol=BIDU. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.
- ^ "Baidu website". http://ir.baidu.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=188488&p=irol-homeprofile.
- ^ "Google's Lookalike is Expanding in China". Gadget4boys.com. 23 January 2007. http://www.gadget4boys.com/index.php?page=articles&catid=3&id=20.
- ^ "2007 Special 301 Report" (PDF). Office of the United States Trade Representative. 30 April 2007. http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2007/2007_Special_301_Review/asset_upload_file230_11122.pdf.
- ^ "China's Google in Japan". Infoniac.com. 23 March 2007. http://www.infoniac.com/hi-tech/china-google-in-japan.html.
- ^ "China Search Marketing With Baidu Whitepaper" (PDF). Rocky Fu's digital marketing blog. 14 April 2008. http://www.rockyfp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/brief-guide-to-baidu-whitepaper.pdf.
- ^ "关于baiduspider". baidu.com. 18 March 2009. http://www.baidu.com/search/spider.htm.
- ^ "Baiduspider User-Agent String". HttpUserAgent.org. 17 March 2009. http://www.httpuseragent.org/list/Baiduspider-n40.htm.
- ^ "Baidu’s Internal Monitoring and Censorship Document Leaked". China Digital Times. 30 April 2009. http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/04/baidus-internal-monitoring-and-censorship-document-leaked/.
- ^ "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. http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/69906.htm.
- ^ (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. http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2008-11-17/22162584794.shtml.
[edit] External links
- baidu.com
- baidu.jp
- Baidu’s Internal Monitoring and Censorship Document Leaked on China Digital Times
|
|||||
