Andre Yoskowitz
9 Jun 2010 0:45
Baidu, China's top Internet search engine, has said today that it wants to extend its market share in China to 79 percent, the far and away leader.
The goal comes from Baidu General Manager for Corporate Development Tang Hesong, who noted that Google's exit from the market has helped Baidu take a large amount of market share in a little bit of time.
Google announced in January that it would quit China if it had to maintain self-censorship of its search results. The ruling communist party forces search engines to filter out results for certain terms, or certain results that it deems inappropriate for Chinese citizens to see.
The search giant's threat to leave the country came after it, along with at least 20 other companies, was the target of a cyberattack aimed at stealing Google's Intellectual Property and at the e-mail accounts of Chinese activists.
Baidu currently owns 64 percent of the search market in China, up from 58 percent in the Q4 last year.