Baidu accused China of bias research in the complaint of monopoly

Biggest search engine in China, Baidu, is facing a potential antitrust investigation after the company was accused of blocking and degrading the search query results to a Chinese website online encyclopedia.

The company behind the website of Wikipedia as Hudong.com, said it has filed its complaint successfully with China's State administration for industry and Commerce (SAIC). The complaint requests SAIC to begin an investigation in anti-trust against Baidu and eventually the search giant 790 million yuan (120 million).

Hudong, however, does not know if or when it will begin an investigation of Baidu. SAIC can not be reached for comment.

Hudong began operations in 2005, a year before Baidu has launched its own online encyclopedia. Hudong said that his articles on popular topics are ranked low in the query results when searched on Baidu. Other search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing, rank, however, Hudong articles at the top.

"We are convinced that Baidu has used its dominant position to bully and block competitors," said Pan Haidong, CEO of Hudong.

A representative of Baidu said that the company did not want to comment on why the spokesperson was not available.

Baidu is the dominant search engine in the country, with a market share of 75.5% according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Baidu has faced similar accusations from Chinese websites alleging that the company has a deliberate distortion, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. "None of the above allegations of this nature have had a significant impact on Baidu," he said.

In his defense, Baidu could always argue that the company uses a different search algorithm of a query result ranking over its competitors, Natkin added. "I don't think that will make a difference," said complaint of Hudong. "There has been no case in which (Baidu) lost millions of dollars or has had to significantly alter its business."

Baidu's dominance in the search market, however, has no doubt given advantages over small businesses Internet hoping to remain visible in the market, said Xu Dong, an analyst with Analysys International. "Small businesses want a level playing field, and this is very important to them," he said. "Believe that the Government should take measures to make more profitable the Internet market to them."