Lai Lin Thomala
Research expert covering Greater China
Search engines in China - statistics & facts
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The number of search engine users in the world's second-largest economy approached 840 million, which means that eight in every ten netizens in China had used online search services. As of 2020, the revenue of search engine business totaled 133 billion yuan and was projected at 197 billion yuan by 2023. As a continuous impetus to the search engine industry, the advertising segment recorded a steady increment in market volume.
Because of the disputes over censorship regulations in 2010, the global search market leader closed its internet services in mainland China. Users are now being redirected to its Hong Kong-based search engine Google.com.hk. In 2018, an investigative journalism website reported that Google was building on a new, censored Chinese search engine. After a backlash from its employee, government officials, and human rights advocates, the company suspended the development of "Dragonfly". However, it is still unclear whether the search giant has plans to make a comeback in China.
There are other small market players but it is quite unlikely for them to shake Baidu's dominating status. ChinaSo.com is one of the examples. Launched by seven national news outlets in China in 2014, the search engine aims at providing reliable search results. However, its usage rate has remained neglectable. Yahoo's exit from mainland China in 2021 also reflected the increasingly challenging operation in China's internet environment. On the other side, Baidu's imminent rival Sogou completed its merger with Tencent in 2020. Huawei officially launched the Petal Search engine in China in the early 2022. It remains to be seen what impact both players can create in the Chinese online search industry.
How did Baidu beat Google in China?
Search giant Google and its domestic competitor Baidu were among the pioneers back in the 2000s, when the Chinese first accessed the internet at internet cafes. To place their search engines prominently on computers, many early web companies made deals with internet cafe operators. Baidu was keen to use this strategy to increase its visibility. Many first-time internet users thus became more acquainted with Baidu than its foreign rival Google. Baidu also employed tactics that Google usually shunned. Apart from traditional offline advertising, Baidu offered access to popular but unlicensed music mp3 files. These tactics successfully boosted its popularity in China. In comparison, Google appeared to be not so aggressive to win the game.Because of the disputes over censorship regulations in 2010, the global search market leader closed its internet services in mainland China. Users are now being redirected to its Hong Kong-based search engine Google.com.hk. In 2018, an investigative journalism website reported that Google was building on a new, censored Chinese search engine. After a backlash from its employee, government officials, and human rights advocates, the company suspended the development of "Dragonfly". However, it is still unclear whether the search giant has plans to make a comeback in China.
The number one Chinese search engine
With a better understanding of the Chinese characters, consumer behavior, and advertiser preference, Baidu gradually climbed to the top of the ladder. In recent years, the search engine has been investing heavily in developing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as autonomous driving, voice assistant and smart speaker, bringing a robust revenue growth to the company.There are other small market players but it is quite unlikely for them to shake Baidu's dominating status. ChinaSo.com is one of the examples. Launched by seven national news outlets in China in 2014, the search engine aims at providing reliable search results. However, its usage rate has remained neglectable. Yahoo's exit from mainland China in 2021 also reflected the increasingly challenging operation in China's internet environment. On the other side, Baidu's imminent rival Sogou completed its merger with Tencent in 2020. Huawei officially launched the Petal Search engine in China in the early 2022. It remains to be seen what impact both players can create in the Chinese online search industry.
