Ren Media
Ren Media
Published on 16th June 2010
A couple of interesting news items talking about Baidu.com, China's leading search engine.
The Chinese search engine company Baidu.com has launched a new handwriting input method for its Internet search engine service.
When using Baidu.com's search engine, a netizen can use a computer mouse as a pen to write down the strokes of the Chinese character keywords in the search box. Based on the shapes of the Chinese characters, the powerful Chinese character recognition function, and Baidu's keyword association function, the smart Web word input system will provide several possible characters for users to choose. In addition, there are functions to allow users to make changes and deletions to the input content.
At the same time, the new service does not require the installation of any Web plug-in and can be started by a simple click on the search engine page.
A representative in charge of Baidu's corporate social responsibility program told local media that with the popularization of the Internet in China, Chinese netizen groups are also diversified. Some old and young users are not familiar with the existing input methods, which are mainly based on Pinyin, and it is hard for them to complete searches on Baidu.com by inputting keywords with keyboards. In addition, it is hard to search for information related to some rarely used words with the Pinyin input methods if people do not know the pronunciations of these words. Baidu.com's new web handwriting input method aims to solve these problems.
Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu.com, said that everyone has the equal rights to gain information in China. Baidu.com is committed to shortening the distance between people and information with the help of technologies and it would like to make more effort to bridge the information gap.
Baidu is hoping to tighten its grip on online mapping in China, a sector that is poised to be redrawn in the coming months.
The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping plans to start issuing licenses this month for online map services. The bureau announced the new requirement in May, and any providers who do not obtain a license by the end of the year will have to shut down their service.
There are thousands of operators competing in China’s rapidly growing online map industry, and the licensing system will serve to pare down the overcrowding. But even ahead of the housecleaning, Baidu has emerged as the clear leader.
In April, the consulting group iResearch estimated that Baidu had control of over 55 percent of the online mapping market in China. That came about three months after Baidu added a link for maps on its home page, in a move that essentially announced the company would work to capture the industry. Since then, evidence of that effort has come in spades.
The product manager for Baidu Maps, Huang Wei, said the company has invested heavily in building and updating data for its mapping service. It was first in providing subway route information ahead of the Shanghai World Expo 2010, and it also released a 3D Expo map.
Last month Baidu released a beta version of its mapping service for the Windows Mobile operating system, which will enable it to gain support among the country’s mobile Internet users. The China Internet Network Information Center estimated there were 233 million mobile Internet users at the beginning of the year, double the amount from a year before.
The previous month Baidu released an API for its mapping service. The API has enabled other developers to embed Baidu Maps on their own Web sites and will help Baidu to increase both traffic and user loyalty.
Analysys International has projected revenue in the online mapping industry in China to grow to $72 million this year, compared to just $8.7 million five years before, and Baidu hopes its dominance of the Chinese search engine market will give it the upper hand in the increasingly lucrative online mapping industry.
