Microsoft and Baidu partner to take on Google
Microsoft has formed an alliance with Baidu, the biggest search engine in China, to provide English language search results as it bids to boost Bing’s position against Google internationally.
The deal will also help Baidu, which dominates the Chinese search market, expand overseas, especially into English-speaking countries.
Baidu has a 76% share of China’s search market, ahead of Google’s 19%, according to Analysys International. Bing has a negligible search share in the territory.
Google’s share of the market has fallen since the company moved its search operations to Hong Kong, over concerns about censorship and security against hackers in China.
Zhang Dongchen, Baidu senior executive, says: “The cooperation between Baidu and Bing will bring into play technological advantages of both parties and jointly provide best search experience for users who need to search in English.”
The partnership will not involve sharing revenue but will see Bing search results labeled on Baidu’s search results page, which will improve the brand’s visibility in China. Search results will continue to be censored by the Chinese government.
Dongchen says that Baidu receives around 10 million English-language search queries a day, largely from international students and business people from overseas.
