WebProNews

Baidu Pummeled Following Low Forecast

Baidu shared its third quarter earnings report last night, and the part that actually concerned the third quarter was quite positive - the Chinese search giant reported higher revenues and profits than most experts expected.  Unfortunately for the company, its forecast for the fourth quarter then caused what can only be described as panic.

Baidu Goes Wireless in Japan

Baidu announced that it has launched a new mobile search service in Japan. The company says Baidu Japan wireless search will build upon the existing Baidu.jp services, which include web search, image search, and video search, and have special features tailored to Japanese users. The company has already been offering wireless search in its home country China. There, it has partnerships with carriers and all of the major handset manufacturers.

Global Search Market Grows Tremendously YOY

comScore has released some new numbers for the global search market. The highlight of the findings is that the market draws over 100 billion searches per month. To be more specific, over 113 billion searches were conducted in July. This is a whopping 41% increase from a year ago. Obviously, Google sites received the bulk of these searches.

Google, Baidu Swap Market Share In China

The second quarter of this year didn't go so well for Google in China.  According to a new report, the American search giant's market share shrunk a bit, while that of its Chinese equivalent, Baidu, managed to get larger. iResearch found that over three-fourths of all searches in China (specifically, 75.7 percent) were performed using Baidu in the second quarter of 2009.  This represents a gain of 1.6 percent compared to the first quarter.

Baidu Partners With Discovery

Discovery Communications, parent company of the Discovery Channel, and Baidu, China's largest search engine, have partnered to launch a new website focused on science and technology. "The launch of discovery.baidu.com represents an important step in building stronger brand awareness and consumer loyalty for Discovery in the key Chinese market," said Greg Ricca, President and CEO, Discovery Networks International.

Baidu Nails Q2 Earnings Report

Baidu, China's equivalent of Google, released another earnings report last night, and the company's continuing to impress onlookers at every turn.  Baidu beat analysts' estimates and made some very positive predictions regarding the next quarter. Here are the key stats: the company's revenue climbed 36.7 percent on a year-over-year basis, reaching $160.7 million compared to forecasts of $158 million.  Also, it reported earnings of $1.61 per share, even though analysts only expected to see something like $1.44.

Baidu May Have Acquisitions On The Mind

Baidu is big; its share of the Chinese search market is close to 60 or even 70 percent, depending on which statistics firm you favor.  And Baidu may be set to grow still more, as the company's CFO, Jennifer Li, seems to be rather open-minded on the subject of making acquisitions.

Google Developing Algorithm To Catch Quitters

Unhappy Googlers may soon be supplied with about as many muffin baskets, pats on the back, and intriguing projects as they can handle.  Apparently Google's developing an algorithm to identify which employees are most likely to quit, and it's acting on the info in an attempt to keep top workers around. 

Analyst Says Google China Still In Trouble

So much for the time, money, and compromises on censorship Google's committed in the region thus far.  Plus its new music venture.  An analyst said this morning that Google's Chinese arm won't do so well, anyway. 

Google Introduces Music Service In China

Google has partnered with the major record labels to launch a free online music service in China that is ad supported. Initially the service will offer 350,000 songs from Warner Music, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment and 14 independent labels. The number of songs will increase to 1.1 million in the coming months, said Gary Chen, chief executive of Google's partner www.Top100.cn.