... And Google Was Just Gaining Some Ground In China
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Some cynicism today that Google’s threat to leave China isn’t so altruistic. The basic argument: Google (NSDQ: GOOG) was facing an uphill battle against Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) and is cutting its losses. And while it’s true—as we pointed out yesterday—that Google’s revenue in China is currently minimal, the company’s business was on the way up in that country, as measured by market share.
Data from two firms indicates that Google had managed to cut somewhat significantly into Baidu’s lead in the Chinese search market in recent months. StatCounter figures, for instance, show that Baidu’s market share had dropped from 71 percent in August to 56 percent in December, while Google’s had risen from 27 percent to 43 percent during the same period.
SEE ALSO: Google May Shut Down Operations In China
Another report indicates a similar—albeit less pronounced—trend. Marketwatch points to data from Chinese consulting firm Analysys International showing that Google had 35.6 percent of the market during the fourth quarter, up from 31.3 percent in third quarter. Baidu’s share, meanwhile, fell from 63.9 percent to 58.4 percent.
No reason given for the trend, although there were some signs that so far Google’s new music search service—designed specifically to go up against Baidu, which gets a substantial percentage of its traffic from searches for MP3—has been a success.
Posted In: Search, Companies, Google, Countries, Asia, China, google china
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