Search engines on the Internet have become an incredibly powerful tool to find information. After typing in a keyword, one is quickly given a seemingly endless list of web pages. From there, choices can be made further narrow one's search for a specific website. In the United States, Google is one of the top search engines. It is trusted and has become intertwined in everyday life to the point where even this paper relies on Google. While Google is available throughout the world, China has its own search engine that is much more popular than Google called Baidu. At first glance, Baidu appears very similar to popular search engines in America, providing numerous web pages matching what is searched. It has come under fire recently for having serious dangers.
Baidu has been criticized for a multitude of reasons, such as issues with the security of the search engine. According to Alex Gillis’s article on Phys.org[1], Baidu has massive problems with its security. Encryption, according to Google, is how one's privacy is ensured. It is where information is turned into code that is not easily readable. Baidu fails to be responsible with its users' information by lacking proper encryption methods. Not only does it fail to provide proper encryption, it also allows the Chinese government to easily spy on anyone using the engine. Another criticism comes from the issues Baidu has had with healthcare. According to an article from techinasia.com[2], Baidu leads many users into seeking out improper medical care. Certain companies are able to pay Baidu to secure a spot in the top results when searched, even if they are poorly rated or an outright phony. As a result of this, a young man died from having improper surgery after being led to an incompetent hospital. Also according to an article published on the same site, apart from leading people in the wrong direction for medical care, Baidu has also been accused of controlling the sale of illness–related Tebia forums to hospitals. Why would they continue to do such things and knowingly harm people? Because of the amount of profit Baidu makes from healthcare companies, they ignore the issues that are apparent in the system. A report from the same “Techinasia” article says thirty percent of online ad revenue comes from medical ads.
While there are many problems with Baidu, from a business standpoint the company is very well-off. Investors are very interested in Baidu because of its rapid growth. According to an article from searchenginejournal.com[3], it was the fastest growing company in the NASDAQ since 2000. In addition to being great for investors, Baidu is in the process of building the world's most powerful computer cluster. The company is constantly moving forward and progressing both as a search engine and a tangible business.
In the end, is Baidu better off staying than going? Personally, I believe that the main objective is always money. Baidu fits this stereotype very well considering their healthcare provisions. Aside from that, it has clearly become an important tool in China and other parts of the world. Implementing changes is important, but simply being such a large industry providing similar services to the world’s other great search engines is also important. Privacy can be a problem with any website, but improvements can always be made. Baidu may neglect to provide certain services properly but overall I think it is a necessary thing, especially considering it has become an integral part of so many lives in China.
Mitchell Lozier
Tech 200G
Search engines on the Internet have become an incredibly powerful tool to find information. After typing in a keyword, one is quickly given a seemingly endless list of web pages. From there, choices can be made further narrow one's search for a specific website. In the United States, Google is one of the top search engines. It is trusted and has become intertwined in everyday life to the point where even this paper relies on Google. While Google is available throughout the world, China has its own search engine that is much more popular than Google called Baidu. At first glance, Baidu appears very similar to popular search engines in America, providing numerous web pages matching what is searched. It has come under fire recently for having serious dangers.
Baidu has been criticized for a multitude of reasons, such as issues with the security of the search engine. According to Alex Gillis’s article on Phys.org[1], Baidu has massive problems with its security. Encryption, according to Google, is how one's privacy is ensured. It is where information is turned into code that is not easily readable. Baidu fails to be responsible with its users' information by lacking proper encryption methods. Not only does it fail to provide proper encryption, it also allows the Chinese government to easily spy on anyone using the engine. Another criticism comes from the issues Baidu has had with healthcare. According to an article from techinasia.com[2], Baidu leads many users into seeking out improper medical care. Certain companies are able to pay Baidu to secure a spot in the top results when searched, even if they are poorly rated or an outright phony. As a result of this, a young man died from having improper surgery after being led to an incompetent hospital. Also according to an article published on the same site, apart from leading people in the wrong direction for medical care, Baidu has also been accused of controlling the sale of illness–related Tebia forums to hospitals. Why would they continue to do such things and knowingly harm people? Because of the amount of profit Baidu makes from healthcare companies, they ignore the issues that are apparent in the system. A report from the same “Techinasia” article says thirty percent of online ad revenue comes from medical ads.
While there are many problems with Baidu, from a business standpoint the company is very well-off. Investors are very interested in Baidu because of its rapid growth. According to an article from searchenginejournal.com[3], it was the fastest growing company in the NASDAQ since 2000. In addition to being great for investors, Baidu is in the process of building the world's most powerful computer cluster. The company is constantly moving forward and progressing both as a search engine and a tangible business.
In the end, is Baidu better off staying than going? Personally, I believe that the main objective is always money. Baidu fits this stereotype very well considering their healthcare provisions. Aside from that, it has clearly become an important tool in China and other parts of the world. Implementing changes is important, but simply being such a large industry providing similar services to the world’s other great search engines is also important. Privacy can be a problem with any website, but improvements can always be made. Baidu may neglect to provide certain services properly but overall I think it is a necessary thing, especially considering it has become an integral part of so many lives in China.
Technology concepts
https://phys.org/news/2016-02-privacy-problems-popular-baidu-browser.html[1]
https://www.techinasia.com/baidus-health-problem-deeper-wei-zexi[2]
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/[3]