Taobao launches Web search engine

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-10-12 15:31
souce from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-10/12/content_11400559.htm


taobao's search engin: http://www.etao.com/

SHANGHAI - A unit of Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce firm, has launched a search engine, taking aim at a lucrative market now dominated by Wall Street darling Baidu Inc, Reuters reported on Oct 12.

Taobao.com, China's largest and most popular online e-commerce website with a consumer focus, launched its public beta test of the search site, called Etao, on Oct 9, a spokeswoman said on Oct 12.

"Etao is a shopping search engine launched by Taobao," she said in a statement, referring to the site's name.

Etao provides not only search options for e-commerce, but also a comprehensive search engine powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine.

The move is a direct challenge to reigning Chinese search leader Baidu, which dominates more than 60 percent of the Chinese search market by advertising revenue.

"Advertising to people who have come already to buy something is a very attractive proposition," Mark Natkin, director of consulting firm Marbridge Consulting, said of Etao.

"It (Etao) has the potential to pull a very valuable segment of users, by intention, from Baidu," Natkin said.

Alibaba Group is about 40 percent owned by Yahoo Inc.

China's Internet search market is currently controlled by Baidu and Google, which collectively have about 90 percent of the market.

But Google's share has been slipping since its high profile threat to leave China earlier this year. Chinese Internet firms are jostling with each other to eat into Google's share and compete against Baidu.

In August, Sohu, China's No 2 Internet portal said it will sell 32 percent of its Sogou search engine to investors that include Alibaba Group.

"There's always the potential for a threat to Baidu, but they (Taobao) are still in the early stages," said an analyst with an investment bank who is not authorized to speak with media.

"It may take them at least another three to four years to build up their technology."

Microsoft has been aggressively pushing Bing in China. The firm told the Wall Street Journal in September it is looking for a partner there to help the company play a major role in China's Internet search market -- the world's largest with more than 400 million users