China’s probe into Baidu highlights concerns over firm’s dominance of internet searches

The case of Wei Zexi has raised concerns about Baidu’s dominance of the mainland’s online search market.

Wei, a 21-year-old university student in Shaanxi ­province, died of a rare form of cancer last month after receiving an experimental therapy at a hospital in Beijing that paid to get a prominent listing on the search engine.

With Google largely blocked on the mainland, Baidu has become virtually the only choice for internet users there.

By late last year, Baidu had more than 70 per cent of a market with about 700 million internet users. Qihoo 360 accounted for about 13.3 per cent of the pie, while Sogou took up about 12.4 per cent, according to China Analysys, an internet data analysis firm.

China launches probe into Baidu over paid search listings after student dies following cancer treatment sourced online

“An internet company dominates the search business in China,” one internet user commented on a report by Thepaper.cn about Wei’s death.