Google’s new social media platform might be making waves in the West, but it’s already been banned from China. And with Google unable to reach an agreement with Beijing when it comes to search, the stage is set for one of their rivals to seize the initiative. Step forward Microsoft.
English search queries made on Baidu will now be directed to Microsoft’s Bing search engine – meaning that Bing will now have a chance to gain from Baidu’s 75% Chinese market share (in comparison, Google ‘only’ has a 65% share in the USA). With Google in full retreat in China over numerous censorship scuffles, it’s a real opportunity for the smaller search engine to really establish itself.
And what Bing learns from the Chinese market could help it to challenge Google in the rest of the world – as well as preventing Google from gaining a foothold in the world’s fastest growing superpower.
Analysis International’s Dong Xu had this to say:
The co-operation between Baidu and Microsoft will further strengthen Baidu’s dominance in China’s search engine market, and will also make Google’s business in China more difficult.
Looks like Google will have a real fight on their hands if they want to get back in the Chinese search game.
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