Full FeedGoogle all geared up to pounce Baidu in China
Local search engine Baidu is the dominant market leader in China; much to the disappointment of global Web search giant Google. Its mastery of China and its cryptic language are its inherent strengths against foreign competitors.
After years of trying, Google has finally discovered a chink in the armor of this mighty adversary – search service for free and unlicensed music downloads. Google is now negotiating with a Chinese online music company for a possible tie-up on free and legal music downloads. There are also rumors that it will provide free access from three global music companies. If all goes well, this service is expected to commence in a few weeks.
In a sudden twist of fate, Baidu is the favorite target of irate music companies for allegedly allowing piracy through its search service for unauthorized downloads. This service accounts for 7% of Baidu’s total traffic. Google China, on the other hand, is not offering this service.
Though this can help boost Google’s presence in the Great Firewall of China, this initiative is not enough to grab sizeable market share from Baidu.
Read [The Wall Street Journal]
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These latest attempts at new music distribution via ad supported modelas (whether Baidu, SpiralFrog or QTrax) are unsustainable from a revenue/cost perspective. The digital ad industry is simply not big enough to support the digital music industry.
Digital music market is now at $30 billion and rising (including illegal downloads). While digital advertising is only at $20 billion and slowing.
on February 9, 2008 at 07:56 AM - LINKThere’s an excellent analysis at Brooding Savage blog.
http://www.BroodingSavage.com/journal/2008/2/7/ad-supported-music-1.html