What is the most popular search engine in China?

Baidu is the most popular search engine in China. It became the country’s leading search service by building a Chinese-language index and tailoring its results, advertising, and online products to local users.

Founded in Beijing in 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, Baidu grew rapidly as Google’s mainland Chinese search operations became increasingly constrained. Google ultimately redirected its mainland service to Hong Kong in 2010, leaving Baidu with an even stronger domestic position. Baidu also expanded into maps, cloud services, an encyclopedia, and the online discussion platform Tieba.

“Most popular” can vary depending on whether a source measures desktop searches, mobile searches, traffic, or advertising revenue. Baidu is nevertheless the standard answer for mainland China. Google is largely inaccessible there, while Bing, Sogou, and 360 Search have smaller shares. Baidu should not be confused with Baidu Baike, its encyclopedia service; Baidu is the search engine itself.