China has the largest percentage of internet users in the world standing at a staggering 420,000,000 active users - with over 99% of them using Baidu search engine - which isn't a small percentage.

Baidu has a market share which is increasing dramatically, from 73% to 75.5% in the last quarter and there is hints that they are looking to expand outside China and to have a real go at the rest of the world - and to be honest, it's not a long shot by any means. Yes, we know Google are giants, but there is a reason that over 99% of the Chinese use Baidu compared to Google - they say functionality is better, results are quicker and so are the quality of those results. Could Baidu be Google's next real rival?

Let's look at the facts - Baidu are one shrewd operation - the proof of this is the Rakuten Alliance. Rakuten are Japans largest e-commerce company who agreed a strategic partnership with Baidu to deliver a robust e-commerce platform that will allow for B2B2C. Rakuten has over 64 million registered users and generated over $3.2 billion worth of sales - you can find the site here

So, they're heads are definitely screwed on - let's wait to see Baidu's next move. We truly believe that Baidu could be the next real competitors to Google, especially if they introduce their offerings to the world.

Posted: 22/02/11 10:43