Google Makes Moves In China

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In China, Baidu is the Google of its’ peers. Google would like to change that fact, and they’re reaching out to partners to help accomplish their goals. Google has partnered with CDC, the parent company of China.com, to try and put a dent into Baidu’s business.

Don’t get too excited. Despite watching over a juicy domain like China.com, CDC is mostly an enterprise software specialist. In fact, its online portal and media services businesses accounted for just $2.1 million in revenues during the company’s first fiscal quarter. Revenues actually fell by 30% in that segment over the past year, accounting for less than 3% of the $91.3 million in total revenue reported by CDC during the period. It’s a steep cyberspace dip in a booming market that is going the other way, making this deal as important for CDC as it is for Google.

Ultimately, we’re talking about one more trophy for Google’s East-facing mantel. It acquired a stake in Tianya Club earlier this month to launch a pair of community-driven websites in China. It partnered with SINA (Nasdaq: SINA) to extend its paid search reach back in June. Two months before that, Google scored a minority stake in the Maxthon Web browser that has become a popular download in China.

Even with the partnership, Google still faces a titanic struggle to attract the necessary number of eyeballs in order to take the lead in China. Baidu is a well-funded company that is also making a number of strategic alliances in order to maintain their dominance. In China the stakes are high and the eventual outcome of who will be search champ is still unknown.

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