Baidu: 15 Interesting Facts We Bet You Didn't Know About China's Biggest Search Engine
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Autonomous Technology
Companies such as Google, Uber, and Apple are known as key players in their respective fields, but Baidu shares one thing in common with the three. Research that involves the innovation of vehicles that can autonomously function on public roads is apparently one way for the firms to gather more information that involves AI (artificial intelligence).
The Chinese search group reportedly established a research group based in Silicon Valley and began its tests in 2015. Insiders revealed that the vehicles used a combination of technologies such as AI algorithms developed in-house, HERE maps, and automotive chips from NVIDIA.
Furthermore, the company confidently declared that China could see a driverless shuttle bus in 2018. The technology Baidu has on hand will be outsourced to several vehicle manufacturers in its home country.
Autonomous Technology
Companies such as Google, Uber, and Apple are known as key players in their respective fields, but Baidu shares one thing in common with the three. Research that involves the innovation of vehicles that can autonomously function on public roads is apparently one way for the firms to gather more information that involves AI (artificial intelligence).
The Chinese search group reportedly established a research group based in Silicon Valley and began its tests in 2015. Insiders revealed that the vehicles used a combination of technologies such as AI algorithms developed in-house, HERE maps, and automotive chips from NVIDIA.
Furthermore, the company confidently declared that China could see a driverless shuttle bus in 2018. The technology Baidu has on hand will be outsourced to several vehicle manufacturers in its home country.
Disturbing Mimicry
Another piece of amazing technology pioneered by the engineering team of Baidu is again related to artificial intelligence. This time around, it reportedly involves the ability to listen and mimic the user's voice. The company calls it Deep Voice and supposedly learns to copy everything including the small quirks of a user's speech.
The researchers claim that the artificially recreated voice can easily pass off for the original speaker. The technology likewise offers options to tweak the accent, tone, and gender of the original recording to create an entirely different personality.
Security analysts are concerned about the potential for Baidu's research to be used to steal an identity. However, the company plans to use their discovery to create digital assistants that can be customized by the user.
A Poem For A Name
Most globally recognized companies usually have a fun little trivia about how the founders came up with the brand or name. Some such as GoPro has inspirational origins that deal with the desire to succeed. Others such as Mountain Dew reportedly came from the local slang for moonshine, which has how people from Tennessee referred to its illicitly produced high-proof distilled spirits. Baidu credits its brand to an eight-hundred-year-old poem.
According to its founders, the inspiration came from "Green Jade Table" in the "Lantern Festival," a classic poem written by Xin Qiji during the Song Dynasty. The literary work's last line which reads "Having searched for her hundreds and thousands of times in the crowd, suddenly turning back by chance, I find her there in the dimmest candlelight." is supposedly the source of the name Baidu.
The People Behind The Name
Baidu is globally known as China's state-approved alternative to Google Search, which, along with several other American-owned websites and services, are banned in the Asian country. It was founded by two Chinese nationals named Robin Li (Li Yanhong) and Eric Xu. Both were experienced enough to anticipate the worldwide growth of the internet industry and gain a foothold ahead of the competition.
While both of the company's founders are Chinese, both have experience studying and working in the United States. Li was credited for the development of a site-scoring algorithm called RankDex in 1996, which was around the same time Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a prototype for its search engine.
Creating the Brand
Most sources credit Robin Li's experience with RankDex and his work with Infoseek as a software engineer for the search engine founded by Steve Kirsch in 1994. In 1999, he was reportedly invited to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of China's communist regime. Baidu was created shortly thereafter as internet search started to gain popularity globally.
In 2000, together with Eric Xu, a biochemist friend, he created Baidu, which would eventually become China's number 1 search engine a couple of years later. The web services firm currently has its headquarters in the Baidu Campus in the Haidian district in Beijing.
Similar to Google, Baidu serves as the main platform for Chinese-language search terms that provide results such as images, videos, and more.
Making Money And Investments From Silicon Valley
Based on reports, Baidu was originally conceptualized as a platform that offered Chinese portals a third-party search service. However, due to the lack of profit and outright refusal of some websites to spend money, Eric Xu and Robin Li opted to turn independent.
The duo likewise collected a sizeable investment from Silicon Valley, which amounted up to $1.2 million and used that money and launched their website. Insiders listed two venture capital firms involved such as Integrity Partners and Peninsula Capital. A few months later, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and IDG Technology Venture threw more money along Baidu's way.
Through the financial backup of the investment companies, Xu and Li eventually grew their project into China's number 1 search engine.
One Step Ahead Of Google
Another thing that the Chinese search engine did ahead of its U.S. counterpart is to offer ad space for businesses. Based on surveys done in China, it looks like Chinese web users do not really find online advertisement annoying compared to Western audiences. This presumably helped Baidu earn a huge profit by 2004.
This appears to have all happened even before the webpage rebranded itself as a search engine. It previously leased its platform to different portals who wanted a search service for their website. However, due to a decline in profit, the service tweaked their approach and became an independent search engine.
A Trend Among Its Users
It's a regular practice for some websites to publicly release data about how their users behave online. These include patterns such as stuff being searched, activities being done, sites being visited, and more. In Western markets, these activities are often segregated by the web services being used by a user, yet in China, it seems like people rely on Baidu to find products they want to purchase.
Instead of going directly to the online retailer's website, the Chinese prefer to use the search engine in its place. The data gathered from these searches revealed that they love to purchase everything online.
A Well-Regulated Process
Search engines and other platforms that offer ad space want to make money as quickly as the business that wants to advertise its wares online. Therefore, processing period required to complete everything and to have the ads up and running is relatively shorter in markets outside of Baidu's home country.
On the other hand, in order for businesses to get their products advertised on the Chinese search engine and reach a large potential market in China, it might take up to a few months depending on the strict checklist enforced by the government.
Moreover, the advertiser must be fluent in Chinese since there is no English language version of the application. Business licenses and other documents are required by the service as proof of its existence and for legitimacy purposes.
Importance Of Artificial Intelligence
At first glance, it might seem that Western companies are the only ones that value the importance of advancements in AI technology. Google recently boasted its upgraded algorithm that relies on artificial intelligence to improve search results. Baidu proves that China is not about to get left behind when it comes to important innovations in the tech industry.
The company is aware of Google's plans to use the tech to help its algorithm recognize images, dissect search patterns, and more. All these can ultimately have the system target relevant ads based on the information provided by a customer.
Baidu likewise invested in the best when it recently hired Andrew Ng and Qi Lu, both of which were the Google Brain AI lead and a Microsoft AI specialist, respectively.
Eco-Friendly Innovations
Even though Baidu and other tech companies are known for their research on AI-powered vehicles, it does not mean that carbon-neutral technology advancements are no longer given importance. In 2014, the Chinese search company debuted the DuBike, which is equipped with motion sensors and biometric technology.
All the data gathered from the array of sensors are wirelessly synchronized via a mobile app. Other features include a navigation system that allows other connected users to view the bike routes that their friends took on their daily commute. Its built-in navigation system apparently does not rely on a smartphone to provide directional assistance to the rider.
Countering Counterfeits
It was previously noted that business and services that want to advertise its wares on Baidu will experience a lengthy process. Most people already understand that the company wants to ensure that whatever is being advertised comes from a company that really exists.
Additionally, another reason for the strict application procedure is to control the quality of products and to combat counterfeit merchandise. Users who have experienced online shopping from China might have encountered instances wherein the product that arrives is not what was advertised.
Baidu points out that the Chinese consumer is more cautious now and sometimes chooses to import products instead. Authenticated ads that pass the company's strict regulation process assure buyers that the product is genuine.
Self-Promotion Over SEO
Brands that are new to the Chinese search engine might be surprised about how the SEO processes are being handled by Baidu. While veteran webmasters and SEO specialists might assume that the platform uses the same algorithm as Google, they should be in for a surprise.
Experts report that Baidu prefers to promote their own sites, which normally show up on top of search results. Data collected shows that traffic generated from searches done on the platform are allegedly redirected to Baidu Zhidao, Baidu News, and Baidu Baike, which are all subsidiaries of the search company.
In turn, this makes it difficult for other brands to systematically come out on top during a search.
Unique Services Offered
Baidu being labeled as China's Google Search makes it easy to compare with other search engine services. Even though there are some differences when it comes to SEO and other services offered, most people still associate it directly with the aforementioned search engine.
However, it offers a service that is unlike any other being offered by the competition. Relying on its standing as the dominant search engine that Chinese people are using, it is offering something completely unique for registered businesses.
Brand Zone is a service Baidu offers that converts the search engine into a brand-specific platform. Insiders claim that unrelated results and competitors will not appear when users search for a specific brand. Fees are charged based on the length of time a company wants to control the search results.
Ride-Hailing Services
In an effort to diversify its business, the executives at Baidu surprisingly have a small stake in Didi Chuxing, which offers ride-hailing services in China. Uber launched its services in the country but ended up with losses. It sold most of its assets to its biggest competitor, Chuxing.
The Chinese search company's access to the ride-hailing service's fleet of cars might help advance its efforts with driverless vehicles. Its researchers are already hard at work to innovate AI that is capable of advanced functions such as image recognition, which is very important for the autonomous cars to recognize objects, terrain, hazards, other vehicles, and people.