There is a really vibrant discussion going on nowdays about the potential colaboration between Google and Yahoo.  Some claim that the venture can end up with Google gaining control of 90% of the advertising market in North America.  To a large degree Google’s leading position in online advertizing market is based on its leadership in the world of search, where Google is a definite global leader.

However, it appears that one place where Google isn’t winning the search (and online advertisement) battle(s) is in one the fastest growing economies today - China.  The local rival’s name is Baidu and according to this article it holds 60% of the Chinese search market, compared to Google’s 25%.  The article goes on to discussion of potential reasons for the gap, attributing it primarily to Baidu’s business practices and better cultural fit to the Chinese business culture.

I think it is a really interesting case of how culture interacts with technology and business.  I also wonder to what extent internet policies employed by the Chinese government (primarily filtering of the content) are actually helping the competitive advantage of Baidu?