Baidu launches in Japan

Search engine expands reach

By CLIFFORD COONAN

Baidu, the most popular Chinese-language Internet search engine, has launched a Japanese service, its first local-language service outside China.

Chairman-CEO Robin Li said Baidu would focus on search engines for mobile phones. He said it is in talks with Japanese businesses in the industry but did not name the companies.

Baidu flagged its intention to enter the market in December 2006 and began server testing in Japan in March 2007.

The search engine has double the market share of Google in China. In Japan it will compete against Google and Yahoo’s Japanese subsidiary.