There are tons of articles about Google
vs. Baidu, but few of these articles take an in-depth look at how
Google compares to Baidu from a Chinese user’s
perspective.
In this article, I do just that, and I
render a verdict as to which Web site is better.
Search
The best way to compare search engine
quality is to compare searches.
I recently input three Chinese keywords
for my experiment:
- 许霆 (Xu Ting: A Chinese citizen who was recently involved in a
controversial criminal case)
- 次级房贷 (Subprime mortgage)
- 看羹吃饭 (Kan-Geng-Chi-fan: A phrase used and recognized by a
relatively small number of Chinese, meaning that you have to think
carefully before taking action)
These keywords represent three different
categories of information people search for online. Xu
Ting is a hot keyword in China at the moment but it has
received little international media coverage. Subprime
mortgage, on the other hand, is a foreign concept and the
term has been transliterated into Chinese characters from the
English equivalent. Kan-Geng-Chi-fan is used
within a specific dialect that is not used by the majority of
Chinese citizens.
Okay, here are the results as of April
18, 2008:
“Xu Ting”
It would seem that Baidu knows much more
about Xu Ting than Google, although I did not verify that every
result referred to this particular individual.
Interestingly, in the first results page
of both google.com
and google.cn, one of
the search results directed users to Baidu
Post — Baidu’s popular user forum.
Overall, I would rate both sites equally
because the top 20 results from each search engine were highly
qualified and I could easily find information I wanted from there.
Verdict: A tie.
“Subprime
mortgage”
This time google.cn appears to do much
better than Baidu. But if we look closely at the top 20 search
results, we’ll find there are 7 results at google.com and 5 results at
google.cn that direct
us to Web sites that use traditional Chinese characters, which are
used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and by the overseas Chinese
community.
It can be rather challenging for the
mainland Chinese to read traditional Chinese, though they can
understand most of the message. Nonetheless, this mix of simplified
and traditional Characters is not the most user-friendly approach.
Verdict: Baidu wins.
“Kan Geng Chi
Fan”
At first glance, Google produced
overwhelmingly more information than Baidu. However, if we examine
the details, Google did not perform so well. Neither Google.com nor
Google.cn produce an accurate search result within the first 10
pages respectively, while all the 207 search results from Baidu are
accurate. Verdict: Baidu wins again.
Based on these three searches, Google
comes across as a bit complicated and “foreign” to Chinese users.
Baidu is the superior Chinese search engine.
Products
Both Google and Baidu are trying to
leverage their network effects to promote other products. Google
has many excellent products, but not every product has performed
well in China. For example, Google Maps is widely used by American
users. Unfortunately, Google Maps in China is unable to provide the
same features due to unavailability of mapping data in China.
Google’s satellite map currently only covers the major Chinese
cities. Should Google acquire better maps, it would have a clear
advantage over Baidu, which doesn’t offer the same degree of
functionality and usability in its map tool.
Although music copyright is a
controversial issue within China, the market reality is that
millions of Chinese Internet users download free music online.
Baidu understands this reality and its music search product — which
presents a list of links for free music downloads when people
search by song, singer, or label — is extremely popular. Google is
unable to compete with Baidu in this regard due to its adherence to
US copyright laws.
Another example is Baidu Post, an online
forum allowing Internet user to create new topics based on search
keywords and provide commentary. When people search online by
keyword, they can also follow these keywords to Baidu Post, where
they may find additional information — or at least find out what
others think of the selected keywords.
Online forums are a very important
medium in China for distributing information online. I think an
important reason for this is because the Chinese, as well as many
businesses, want to remain anonymous. While this may change in the
years ahead as the next generation embraces social networking
sites, for the time being, online forums are dominant. Baidu also
offers a blog platform (Hi Baidu) while Google has localized
Blogger into Chinese, very few Chinese people currently use
it.
Local culture and consumer behavior are
critical factors in determining whether a product will succeed in
an overseas market or not. So far, Google products have not been as
appealing as Baidu to Chinese users.
The Brand
Name
The name of Baidu
(百度) is from a beautiful Chinese ancient
poem:
Thousands of
times, I looked for my girl;
Suddenly, at some point, I stopped and
looked back,
I found she was just over there among a
bunch of lanterns.
This poem, written by Qiji Xin, who
lived in the Song Dynasty nearly 1000 years ago, is still very
popular in China and also taught in high schools. Baidu in Chinese
means thousands of times. In Chinese culture, this
poem communicates one’s desire to achieve his/her dreams.
Obviously, meshes well with the services offered by Baidu, a
company that claims it better understands Chinese users and Chinese
culture.
Google started to use its Chinese name
Guge (谷歌) in 2006. Guge (goo-ge) is
transliterated from Google and it literally means “the song of
grain” in Chinese. A
survey conducted in 2006 shows 84.6% Chinese do not like
this name. I think the most important reason is that Chinese people
want to feel international and modern. This is also one reason you
may see many Chinese companies using English words in their
marketing materials, as it creates an international effect. The
“song of grain” presents an image of the agricultural society that
the Chinese people are striving to break away from.
Google has exerted a good deal of effort
in localizing its name for China but it has not yet been accepted
by the Chinese people. It may take some time. Some companies have
chosen to simply use their English names in China, avoiding
localization altogether, such as IBM.
To sum up, Baidu definitely has an edge
over Google in China. But it is early yet and Google has been doing
things such as redesigning its Chinese home page, which may
resonate with users. The key takeaway here is that every new market
is a new challenge; just because you are number one at home does
not mean you will be number one in every country you enter. Should
Baidu enter the US market some day, it will face many of the same
challenges that Google is now facing in China.
