Hudong.com, officially founded in 2005, is also known as China’s “Wikipedia”. The website now has more than 5 million articles that have been created by over 3 million users. Baidu launched its online encyclopedia product in 2006 after becoming China’s top search engine.
Hudong claims that as a result of its competition with Baidu, the search engine has negatively influenced search results related to articles posted on Hudong.com by utilizing its position as China’s top search engine. In China, majority of Internet users access other websites via Baidu. Hudong.com, as a result of the alleged actions of Baidu, has seen its natural development heavily restricted.
In response to that, Hudong has submitted an application to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China to request for an anti-monopoly investigation against Baidu. According to a release, the application file requested the following:
- It asks the Administration to register a case for the anti-monopoly investigation against Baidu based on laws it believes are being broken;
- It asks the Administration to prohibit Baidu from the perceived abuse of using its dominant position in the market to block and degrade articles in the online encyclopedia Hudong.com, and to disorder without reason the normal search results; and
- It asks the Administration to impose a fine of RMB790 million ($120.3 million) on Baidu as a result of the alleged wrongdoing.
Commenting on the application, Dasheng Xu, the lawyer representing Hudong.com, said, “Hudong firmly believes that the actions of Baidu are in violation of article 6 of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China. In our opinion, Baidu is using its dominant position in China’s search engine market to negatively impact search results related to its competitors, like Hudong.com.”
In the last quarter, Baidu has claimed more than 80 percent of the search market share in China. Its dominant position and ever-expanding business portfolio beyond search have raised several concerns. Last week, China Lab also noted that the Internet market in China has “entered the monopolistic competition stage”, referring to Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba.
“We believe that Baidu has used its dominant position to bully and block competitors,” claimed Pan Haidong, chairman and CEO of Hudong.com.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
