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Search Engine Baidu Opens Window on Chinaâs âNetizensâ

   Ira Mellman | Washington, D.C. 13 January 2011
   A  woman  walks  past the company logo of Baidu at its headquarters in
   Beijing  February  10,  2010.  China's  top  search engine, Baidu Inc,
   provided  more  ammunition  to bulls with a strong outlook and said it
   would gain from Google's high profile threat to exit t

Photo: REUTERS

   The  Beijing  headquarters  of  China's leading Internet search engine
   company, Baidu (FILE).

   The  leading  Internet  search  engine  company in China, [1]Baidu, is
   producing  a  new  English  language blog to offer a window on Chinese
   culture and society.
   Baidu  spokesman  Kaiser  Kuo  said he came up with the idea for Baidu
   Beat as a way of providing insights on hot trends in China.

   A  recent  posting  listed  the  top questions asked by Baidu users in
   2010.  The [2]top entry was "What should I do if my girlfriend refuses
   to marry me because I donât have an apartment under my name?"
   âThat  particular  question  is  very  illustrative,â Kuo said. âIt is
   something  very  much  on  the  minds  of Chinese people. It gets to a
   fundamental  problem  here  in Chinese society. There is, to a certain
   extent,  a  lot  of  materialism.  Women,  who say they are being very
   pragmatic,  simply  wonât  marry  a  man  unless  he  actually owns an
   automobile  or  his  own  apartment. Itâs not a renterâs market on the
   romance market these days.â
   In  the  United  States, Google is the leading Internet search engine.
   But  in China, with nearly 400 million Internet users, the search king
   is Baidu.
   Asked  if  Baidu  is  planning  an  English language search that could
   compete with Google and others, Kuo said, âWe would certainly not rule
   out  the  possibility  of offering English search. But [the Baidu Beat
   blog] has nothing to do with that.â
   He  said  they  are writing the blog in English because it is the only
   sensible  language  to  use  if  they  are  going  to reach the global
   audience that follows China and Chinese society.
     _________________________________________________________________

   To  compare some of the habits of American and Chinese Internet users,
   VOA  looked at the lists of top âHow toâ searches for Google and Baidu
   last  year.   Take  a  look  and give us your thoughts in the comment
   section.
   Baidu - Top Chinese âHow Toâ Searches of 2010:
   1. List of top ten â[3]How toâ questions of 2010
   2. How do I completely erase all of the data on my hard drive?
   3. How can I break my addiction to DotA?
   4. How to get food for the spring festival reunion dinner?
   5. How to deal with sleezeballs?
   6. How can I restrain my emotions for the girl I like?
   Google - Top U.S. â[4]How Toâ Searches in 2010:
   1. How to draw
   2. How to kiss
   3. How to knit
   4. How to meditate
   5. How to dougie

References

   1. http://www.baidu.com/
   2. http://beat.baidu.com/?p=731
   3. http://beat.baidu.com/?p=869
   4. http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2010/regions/us/quirky.html

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