Search Wars Heat Up With Latest Anti-Baidu Moves 中国网络搜索战升温
The latest mass movement against online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) looks set to sow new chaos in China’s online community, once again underscoring that Beijing needs to step in and bring some order to the marketplace or risk major disruptions. Chinese media are reporting that 3 major web firms, Tencent (HKEx: 700), Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and Youku (NYSE: YOKU), have all announced new search engine initiatives to rival Baidu, which dominates the market with nearly 80 percent share. (Chinese article) Tencent’s search engine, Soso, is actually already 5 years old, so that part of the story isn’t really news. (previous post) But what’s alarming is that the report says Youku, China’s leading online video sharing site, is launching its initiative after noticing that the number of Baidu search results directing users to its site has dropped sharply since Baidu launched its own video sharing service, called Qiyi. In fact, this is just the latest example of a frequent Baidu practice, namely tampering with its search results to make its advertisers and its own products appear at or near the top of its search results even when other web pages would rank higher under more objective conditions. This latest conflict pitting Baidu against 3 other major web firms comes just weeks after another similar mass protest saw major online retailers including Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and 360Buy block their web pages from searches by Alibaba’s Etao search engine. (previous post) These kind of turf wars between major online players have the potential to create real chaos on the Chinese Internet by undermining the credibility of search engines that are often the first place web surfers go to find what they want on the vast worldwide web. I’m usually opposed to any attempts by Beijing to step in and regulate the online world, but this really seems like one exception where the government should step in and act as impartial arbitrator to set up some basic ground rules that everyone can agree upon to end these turf wars. Otherwise, China’s online world could be looking at 1-2 years of major disruptions until the building brouhaha gets resolved by market forces.
Bottom line: A new uprising by 3 major web firms against Baidu marks the latest unrest in China’s online search market, which needs Beijing to step in and act as impartial arbitrator.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Alibaba’s Etao Faces New Merchant Revolt
◙ Tencent Search: Baidu Beware? 腾讯搜搜成功关键依赖创新
