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Baidu already has Google beat in China. The search engine will try to repeat that performance in Japan, but faces a stiffer challenge.

A Reuters report noted Yahoo and Google hold upwards of 80 percent of the Japanese search market. To increase its local search share, Baidu will try a couple of tactics.

The all-important mobile phone space could help Baidu gain share. Their CEO, Robert Li, said in the report Baidu was in negotiations with local wireless providers, seeking a place as a mobile search option for subscribers.

Updates to Baidu's existing presence in Japan now provide blog searches for users. With millions of blogs being updated regularly, ignoring their content would be a huge impediment to gaining market share.

Baidu isn't out to replace the big search competition in place in Japan currently. The report cited typical searchers as using two or more search engines. Baidu will aim for a comfortable second place.

The Japanese relaunch of Baidu comes almost a year after its March 2007 debut in the country. An early relaunch had been planned, but Baidu pushed that back to January 23rd to avoid being missed during the end of year holiday rush.