The Baidu Story (www.baidu.com) Updated: 2006-05-23 13:43
Many people have asked about the meaning of our name. "Baidu" was inspired by
a poem written more than 800 years ago during the Song Dynasty. The poem
compares the search for a retreating beauty amid chaotic glamour with the search
for one's dream while confronted by life's many obstacles. ".hundreds and
thousands of times, for her I searched in chaos, suddenly, I turned by chance,
to where the lights were waning, and there she stood." Baidu, whose literal
meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search for the ideal.
Baidu chose a poetic Chinese name because it wants the world to remember its
heritage. As a native speaker of the Chinese language and a talented engineer,
Baidu focuses on what it knows best - Chinese language search. Applying
avant-garde technology to the world's most ancient and complex language is as
challenging as it is exciting. At least people here at Baidu think so. As having
diligently disclosed in the Prospectus of our recent Initial Public Offering, we
believe there are at least 38 ways of saying "I" in Chinese. It is important
that we master all the ways of addressing oneself in Chinese because our users
depend on us to address every one of their daily queries. And trust us, pin
pointing queries in the Chinese language is an art rather than a science.
In addition to serving individual users, Baidu also serves as a media
platform for online marketing customers. It not only provides its
customers easy access to one of the largest online audiences in China but also
targeted groups with defined interests as indicated by queries. Unlike
traditional online advertising services which charge by flat fee, our marketing
products and services are performance based. Its Pay for Performance model has
taken the market by storm because it is cost effective and
measurable. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
|