Google has left the market the Chinese market for online search, but two of its major rivals, Microsoft and Baidu, have signed a cooperation pact in the populous country.
Specifically, Microsoft will provide search results for English-language queries in the Chinese search engine, according to representatives from both companies who spoke to The New York Times and Dow Jones today.
"More people here are looking for English terms ... but Baidu has not done a good job. So here's a way to do it," Baidu said a representative of the Times.
Baidu is the leading search engine in China, with Google in second place. Microsoft, which acquired the assets of Yahoo search, is working hard to gain influence search. Search has been economically powerful for Google, which sells ads based on search terms people.
Search these associations are not unknown in the industry. Ask Jeeves uses results from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft uses search results Bing. Usually, the provider of the search term receives a share of advertising revenues derived.
Google China, withdrew its Web site after raising specific concerns about censorship and other issues a year and a half ago.
Microsoft did not adopt the position of Google, to maintain a policy that was established years ago. "I certainly think it's better for us to be present throughout the world, not instead of," said Microsoft, Brad Smith, after a 2006 incident in which Microsoft was criticized for censorship.