Baidu: What It Is, What It Does, History, Stock, Vs. Google

What Is Baidu?

Baidu is the dominant internet search engine company in China. Its features and services are similar to those of Google, but its focus is on China, where it controls most of the search market.

Baidu censors search results and other content in accordance with Chinese regulations. Google is blocked from mainland China by the nation's Great Firewall. Baidu Inc. is registered in the Cayman Islands and is listed on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol BIDU.

Understanding Baidu

Baidu is the 6th largest search engine in the world and commanded a share of the Chinese search market above 78% in February 2021, according to Statcounter.

In December 2007, Baidu Inc. became the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index. According to YCharts, the company had a market cap of about U.S. $70 billion as of late March 2021.

Baidu has a range of consumer features including maps, news, video, an encyclopedia, anti-virus software, and internet TV. The company generates revenue from advertising with a system that is similar to Google's. Advertisers bid on keywords that will trigger the display of their ads. Advertisers can also pay for priority placement in search results.

Baidu's competitors are Google Hong Kong, Yahoo! China, Microsoft Bing, and smaller regional players. (Although banned from the mainland, Google is available in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.)

History of Baidu, Inc.

Baidu, Inc. was incorporated in January 2000 by its creators, Robin Li and Eric Xu. It has grown into a Chinese multinational technology company that provides internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence (AI).

The company is based in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the largest AI and internet companies in the world. 

Baidu's App Business

Baidu also has a Global Business Unit, called DU Group or DU Apps Studio that provides apps and services to more than 2 billion active users worldwide. The Baidu App Store and Shouji Baidu host downloadable content and applications, The company's advertising platform is called DU Ad Platform.

Baidu and AI

Apollo Project is the world's leading autonomous driving and AI program, operated by Baidu with global partners. Together the project represents one of the largest partner groups with 210 global partners as of 2020. Participants include big names such as Microsoft, Intel, Nvidia, Daimler AG, ZTE, Grab, Ford, Hyundai, and Honda.