Baidu: Tidbits But Still No Search Alternatives 百度：干扰不断

There are a few tidbits coming from Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Robin Li, who is down in Shenzhen attending an Internet conference along with the likes of Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) Pony Ma. Chinese media have been rattling nearly non-stop about Baidu’s ongoing dispute with Chinese authors, who are suing the company for copyright infringement (if this sounds familiar, it may be because Google is in the middle of a similar lawsuit). Now Li has told the Shenzhen conference that Baidu could get out of the book business altogether (Chinese article), in what would be a welcome move for something that’s become a major distraction without providing any major new revenue. In one other mini-development, local media are reporting that Baidu is considering buying a small English language search engine to improve its English search functions (English article). This seems like yet another distraction that Baidu doesn’t need, but I suppose it’s necessary to satisfy news-hungry investors who want some justification for the sky-high prices they’re paying for Baidu stock.

Bottom line: Baidu should get out of all business lines that put it at risk for copyright infringement lawsuits.

对於百度文库与多位中国作家的版权纠纷，李彦宏终於表态道歉，并且表示如果无法妥善解决，就考虑关掉百度文库。其实，百度文库非但没能带来真正的收入，反而已经成为一大干扰因素，关掉它倒是让各方皆大欢喜。另外，中国媒体报 道百度正考虑收购一家小型英文搜索引擎，以改善其英文搜索功能。这看起来又是一个没什麽实际效果的干扰因素，但百度为了向投资者证明自己奇高的股价，也许总要做些什麽吧。

一句话：百度应该迅速行动，砍掉一切可能产生版权纠纷风险的业务。