:: LNR Journalism ::

Removing negative reviews: Baidu staff delete posts for cash

Global Times :: Three employees from Baidu, China's largest search engine, have been arrested for being paid to delete online posts on its website, the company confirmed Sunday. The three were suspected of colluding with external partners to delete online messages. Another employee was also fired for attempting to delete posts for cash, but not arrested.

A report by Deng Jingyin, www.globaltimes.cn

HT: Josh Ong, The Next Web

Chinese search giant Baidu enters Brazil: 'A quiet entrance rather than a big splash'

The Next Web :: Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has begun courting Brazil’s emerging online population with the introduction of a Portuguese-language version of its Hao123 link-list website.

Baidu in Brazil - A report by Josh Ong, thenextweb.com

Baidu profits jump: A 59.7pc increase

Baidu :: Online marketing revenues (of the Chinese search engine Baidu) for the second quarter of 2012 were RMB5.452 billion ($858.1 million), representing a 59.7% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. Baidu had about 352,000 active online marketing customers in the second quarter of 2012, representing an 18.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2011 and a 9.7% increase from the first quarter of 2012. Revenue per online marketing customer for the second quarter was approximately RMB15,500 ($2,440), a 34.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2011 and a 16.5% increase compared to the first quarter of 2012.

Second Quarter 2012 results - Continue here Press release, ir.baidu.com

HT: BBC News, TechWireAsia, "Baidu Profits Jump With Online Advertising Boom"

Rumor: Baidu in talks to acquire makers of UC Browser (for mobile devices)

Tech in Asia :: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a web company in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a mobile strategy. And so there’s a ring of plausibility to new rumors in the Chinese media today that, China’s search engine giant Baidu, might be trying to acquire UCWeb, the Chinese makers of the globally popular UC Browser, which has over 40 million users outside of the middle kingdom, and is the leading mobile browser within it.

Continue to read Steven Millward, www.techinasia.com

Baidu to rival iOS and Android with cloud-based platform

The Next Web :: Chinese Internet giant Baidu is set to make a move to rival Google and others in China’s smartphone market with the upcoming launch of ‘Baidu Cloud’, a smartphone platform that integrates with its cloud-based storage service and other Web products.

Continue to read Jon Russell, thenextweb.com

Leaked screenshots suggest a Foxconn-made Baidu phone with voice-based assistant

Tech In Asia :: Screenshots have emerged of a purported new budget phone from Baidu, China’s search engine giant. Rumors in the Chinese media suggest that it’ll be a cheap yet fully-formed smartphone, costing 1,000 RMB (US$159) or less, and the hardware will be made by Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn – on which we reported last month.

Continue to read Steven Millward, www.techinasia.com

Baidu launches office in Australia: Chance to target Chinese consumers

mUmBRELLA :: Chinese search giant Baidu has entered the Australian market with a launch team featuring several well known players from the local digital market. Fionn Hyndman, best known in the Australian market from his time as CEO of performance marketing company dgm, is Baidu International’s executive director, based in Singapore.

Over 175 million Chinese users have already made purchases online. Increasingly, it is Western goods and services that are benefiting from this maturing community.

Fionn added an interesting post in the comment section as well:

[Fionn Hyndman:] ... the opportunity is to target Chinese consumers as opposed to Australian users using the search engine. So it will be Chinese users who are viewing the standard results in China, as per the Chinese gov’ts regulations ...

HT: Jon Russell, The Next Web

Continue to read mumbrella.com.au

Baidu in talks with device manufacturer Foxconn: To build a Baidu-branded phone?

Tech In Asia :: Rumors in the Chinese tech industry say that Chinese search engine Baidu has been in secret talks with the manufacturer Foxconn, almost certainly discussing a mobile device. If true, it would suggest that Foxconn – which makes gadgets for brands such as Apple, HP, Best Buy, etc – is being tagged to make a Baidu-branded device for its Android-based Baidu Yi platform.

Reported by - Continue to read Steven Millward, www.techinasia.com

Baidu: iPhone now the leading handset bringing traffic to its search engine

If you look closer at the screenshot below, you'll recognize that Google Play, Google's Android market, has placed an ad on the page. Thanks to Steven Millward you will find a lot of facts and charts in his article.

Tech in Asia :: Tech in China’s most-used search engine, has revealed updated statistics showing that the iPhone is far-and-away the biggest driver of search traffic amongst mobile phones in China.

Clipped from: www.techinasia.com (share this clip)

Full of charts - Continue to read Steven Millward, www.techinasia.com

Is Google Maps China about to be shut down? Probably not

Penn Olson :: China News Service is reporting today that Google Maps may be on its way out in China. If true, the loss would impact millions of Android smartphone users who use the built-in mapping service to navigate on their phones. It would also be great news for Baidu and other Chinese net firms with mapping services.

Continue to read C. Custer, www.penn-olson.com