Recent high-profile disputes with the Chinese government don’t seem to be cutting into Google’s revenue there. The company’s second-quarter ad revenue in China is expected to increase by 25 percent, compared to the first quarter according to BrandRepublic, which cites domestic reports (via Marketing Pilgrim). Operating revenue is also expected…

First, China introduced a tax on real-world profits generated from the sale of virtual goods; now, China’s Ministry of Commerce has released its first regulation of virtual currency. The law explicitly bans the use of virtual money to buy real-world goods or services, and restricts minors from buying any virtual…

India’s government has banned the controversial and popular local cartoon porn site Savitabhabhi.com. The government’s telecom department has asked all Internet Service Providers to block the website in a communication earlier this month, according to documents seen by our sister site contentSutra. There has been mounting concern in India over…

Take-Two Interactive (NSDQ: TTWO) is ready to make its first big leap into the online gaming arena, and it’s partnering with Chinese internet and gaming portal Tencent to do it. The publisher has inked a multi-year deal with Tencent to launch the best-selling NBA 2K sports franchise in China. It’s…

A deal between Chinese portal SINA and Focus Media may be falling apart. SINA agreed to purchase some assets from Focus Media (NSDQ: FMCN) in December for roughly $1 billion, including the company’s digital out-of-home ad network. However, according to investment bank JLM Pacific Epoch, which cites a local news…

Hoping to expand its already dominant position in the Chinese internet market, Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) is on the hunt for an acquisition. CFO Jennifer Li tells Bloomberg News that the “Internet is at an early stage of its development. It’s dynamic, and we need to stay ahead.” Li didn’t provide…

Will third time be luck for the Chinese digital media entertainment provider Hurray? After failing at two previous attempts to be bought, the Nasdaq-traded company has received a new offer from Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the online gaming biggie in China, for a majority stake. Under the proposal, Shanda will commence…

Most companies in the digital space are laying low when it comes to M&A these days but China’s Alibaba Group says it plans to spend at least $200 million on acquisitions over the next few years. Wei Zhang, who heads the e-commerce company’s strategic investment unit, told the WSJ Alibaba…

A two-week strike by Baidu’s salesforce that has yet to be fully resolved won’t be a big drag on the company, according to Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell. In a note to investors, Mitchell says that even if some salespeople wind up leaving over the pay cuts—which is what sparked…

Workers at the Chinese search engine Baidu have halted a two-week strike over pay cuts to give the company several days to prepare a response. But the two sides have yet to reach a new agreement, and the workers could choose to begin striking again. It’s unclear what kind of…

After a long period of uninterrupted growth, Sony (NYSE: SNE) has announced its first full-year loss in 14 years due to a downturn in consumer spend on gadgets and the collapse of financial markets and currencies in Japan and worldwide. In its full-year results to March 31, the company announced…

WSJ’s overseas expansion is continuing, now that parent Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) has struck a joint venture with financial services company SBI Holdings to start up an online Japanese version of the newspaper’s site. The venture is backed with $4.1 million (or 400 million Yen) and will be set to…

Chinese internet portal and gaming company Sohu (NSDQ: SOHU) beat expectations in the first quarter, as revenue was up 36 percent over the year-ago quarter, to $115.7 million, and earnings-per-share came in at $1.15. (Consensus estimates were for $113.4 million in revenues and EPS of $0.99). The results were driven…

In China, Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) is the undisputed king of search, now controlling 60 percent of that market. But Credit Suisse analyst Wallace Cheung says its dominance will start to slip in the next few years, at the hands of Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and e-commerce site Taobao. In a report…

In a sign of the strength of the search market in China, Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) first quarter 2009 revenue was up 41 percent year on year, to $118.6 million, and operating profit jumped 32 percent, to $29.1 million. Earnings per share was $0.76. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $115…

Google’s decision to bypass a new South Korean law by shutting off comments and video uploads on its YouTube Korea site appears to have seriously irked the Korean government. Korean paper Hankyoreh reports that the Korean government is considering some sort of legal action against Google (NSDQ: GOOG). The paper…

eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) wants to acquire more companies in Asia, particularly in Japan and Singapore, CEO John Donahoe said this morning. He also confirmed that eBay has has offered to buy all the common shares of Gmarket, Korea’s largest peer-to-peer e-commerce company, for $1.2 billion. Donahoe said buying Gmarket made…

In what is perhaps the first earnings surprise of this season Activision (NSDQ: ATVI) Blizzard announced this morning that it would beat its first-quarter 2009 forecast issued only two months ago. That forecast was for $860 million in net revenues and earnings per diluted share of $0.08 (according to American…

eBay is indeed purchasing a controlling stake in Korean auction site Gmarket, as had been rumored earlier this week. The auction site announced Wednesday that it had offered to buy all of Gmarket’s common shares for $24 a share and combine the site with its own Korean auction business. eBay…