This is unbelievable.
Google and Baidu to form JV in China?
Apr 1, 2010 at 12:08am ET by Danny Sullivan
Apparently, Google’s recent semi-departure from China in reaction to Chinese censorship and hack attacks on its core infrastructure may not have really meant they wanted to ignore the huge-and-growing Chinese market. According to a blog post by a well-known Chinese tech blogger, Google and Baidu plan to form a joint-venture to bring the assets of the number 1 and 2 largest search engines in the world together.
They apparently plan to start first in China and other Asian markets including Japan and Korea. Unlike its relatively unimpeded success in other countries, Google has struggled to succeed in these markets where strong local competitors such as Yahoo! Japan and Naver have continued to dominate. Baidu has also previously shown ambitions to extend their business outside of China, most recently with the relaunch of their service in Japan two years ago. However, they too have failed to make significant inroads outside of their home market.
The post goes on to say that Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li have secretly met on several occasions to discuss the affair, choosing remote tropical or skiing destinations to avoid prying eyes. The two have apparently formed a close friendship over the course of the discussions. The post speculates that the new service will be named “Baidoogle”. For the record, I think the name is ridiculous and hope they reconsider. Even “Goodu” would be better.
The post by Chinese tech blogger Fuling Yu was originally published on Sina.com.cn but has since been removed, a process euphemistically referred to as “harmonizing” by Chinese netizens. I’m trying to find another full-text copy as well as more official information and will share with you when I do.
Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle, can be found on Facebook, Google Buzz and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan.
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Trevin Reply
Given that story is dated April 1st, I think you're right :)
Tony Reply
I should note that this is obviously an April Fool's joke. I know this because I wrote the article...