Google Takes Stake in Chinese Search Engine.Search engine company Google Inc has gained a minority stake in Chinese search engine Baidu.com. Details of the deal remain sketchy, but it seems that Google's stake in Baidu is as a result of it being one of a number of foreign investors in a third round of funding by the privately held Chinese company.Draper Fisher Jurvetson Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $4.5 billion in capital commitments. led the consortium of seven Chinese and foreign investors. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report on the Chinese Web site www.chinabyte.com.cn, the consortium has invested close to $100m. The report also quotes unidentified sources as saying it will be the last round of funding before Baidu lists shares. Robin Li, Baidu's chief executive, confirmed reports that Google was among foreign investors included in the fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. , but refused to say how much was raised or how many shares the investors hold. Baidu was formed in 1999 and raised $1.2m during its first round of financing and $10m during its second round. Its business has burgeoned since it launched a search service in 2001. It quotes local research figures that says Baidu accounts for over 48% of searches made by Chinese internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f , with Google occupying second place with just under 30%. Yahoo Inc's subsidiary 3721.com accounts for 13%. Baidu offers the world's largest Chinese web page index comprised of over 220 million pages. The company also offers a pay-for-performance search, which allows businesses to be prominently displayed in search results by bidding for key words. This service has grown to support 35,000 businesses. The Chinese market already has 80 million internet users and is growing rapidly as the roll-out of broadband broadband Term describing the radiation from a source that produces a broad, continuous spectrum of frequencies (contrasted with a laser, which produces a single frequency or very narrow range of frequencies). into homes and the growth of internet cafes The high-tech equivalent of the coffee house. However, instead of playing chess or having heated political discussions, you browse the Internet and discuss the latest technology. CDs, DVDs, games and other "cyber stuff" are also generally available. continues. |
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