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Baidu posts flat second-quarter revenue as sluggish economy slowed advertising spending

  • The Chinese internet search giant’s second-quarter revenue reached US$4.7 billion, a slight 0.4 per cent dip from a year ago

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Signage at Baidu’s headquarters in Beijing. Photo: Bloomberg
Coco Fengin Beijing
Chinese internet search giant Baidu on Thursday reported flat second-quarter revenue amid a slowing economy, while its artificial intelligence (AI) business continued to scale up.
The Beijing-based firm’s total revenue in the three months ended June was basically flat from last year – down 0.4 per cent to 33.9 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion), compared with analysts’ 34-billion-yuan projection, as economic headwinds slowed advertisers’ spending on online marketing services.

Net income rose 5 per cent to 5.5 billion yuan, up from analysts’ estimate of 5.06 billion yuan.

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Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed up 1.71 per cent to HK$86.45 on Thursday.
A robotaxi, developed as part of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous driving project, seen on the road in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province. Photo: AFP
A robotaxi, developed as part of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous driving project, seen on the road in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province. Photo: AFP

Although overall revenue edged down, Baidu said in a statement on Thursday that its non-marketing operations grew 10 per cent year on year to 7.5 billion yuan in the second quarter, “mainly driven by AI Cloud business”.

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“AI Cloud continued to accelerate in the second quarter, offsetting the ongoing macro headwinds for online marketing revenue,” Baidu co-founder, chairman and chief executive Robin Li Yanhong said in the statement.
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