Google Surprising #1 in China

Baidu, not Google, is China’s leading search engine in terms of market share. Baidu holds 51.5% of the market, while Google trails behind with 32.9% of the market. So it was a surprise when a recent study done by Keynote Systems found that Google, not Baidu, was rated #1 in terms of user experience.

The study was done to discover what users thought of their experience using the four leading search engines in China, which are Alibaba/Yahoo!, Baidu, Google China, and Sohu/Sogou. The study was conducted with over 1,200 adult users, 70% of them lived in major mainland Chinese cities while 30% lived in various locations within the country.

Google ranked on top, followed by Baidu, Alibaba/Yahoo!, and Sohu/Sogou.

The users searched in normal environments, which included homes, internet cafes, and offices, among other locations. They were asked to conduct searches for their own wants and needs and were then asked to search for specific products, images, news, and mp3s.

Keynote Systems used their technology as well as users’ responses on a large number of metrics that encompassed behavioral, qualitative, and quantitative data, which allowed them to rank the search engines with respect to how well they accomplish certain business goals.

Google was the top performer in 11 of the 13 factors, and was dubbed a “high quality” search engine by 68% of the participants. Even users who do not typically use Google thought that it was the better engine. As Dr. Donny Brown, Keynote Systems director of research put it, “Google looks like it’s going to have an easier time getting people to switch than any of the other engines.”

These findings may suggest that Google’s growth potential in China is very good. “We think that’s going to translate into increased market share,” Brown said.

Source:

http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/
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