Ramblings on Chinese Search Engines
I have it from a reliable and knowledgeable source that Tencent’s search product, SoSo 搜搜, is the one to watch in the future, not Google China or even Baidu. Tencent is the parent company of QQ, authors of the QQ IM protocol and QQ IM client that, in spite of being a spyware and virus laden piece of shit, is wildly popular among China’s youth.
Anyway, despite the fact that 搜搜’s English name means “just okay,” or as my students like to say “just-a so so,” (Why the hell can’t Chinese companies do a bit of research before deciding on English names for stuff? Do they really want their English name to mean 马马虎虎?) I’m going to try using it as my main tool for Chinese searches from now on and see whether I like it or not.
Until now I have mostly been using the international Chinese Google for my Chinese searches, mainly because I know that the first search results I get aren’t paid for by some company, like they sometimes are with Baidu.
When it comes to maps, however, Baidu is king. I use Baidu Maps almost every day to locate places and get directions in Beijing. By contrast, Google China’s maps product, Google Ditu, is practically useless to me. A common search I make in Baidu Maps is 从北航北门到什么什么地方, but Google Ditu doesn’t even recognize 北航北门. And even when Google Ditu does recognize where I’m looking to go, as in 从北京航空航天大学到东四十条 the directions it gives me are only useful if I have my own private car or take taxis everywhere. It doesn’t tell me how to get around on public transportation, whereas Baidu Maps does. SoSo, however, doesn’t even have a maps product yet.
My source told me that when Google.cn first started up their attitude was, “It’s over. We’re going to dominate this market.” As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
Tags Search, Chinese Search, Chinese Search Engines, Maps, China
May 2, 2007 at 3:43 pm
“SoSo, however, doesn’t even have a maps product yet.”
Not true! It’s apparently brand new.
http://map.soso.com/
They’ve got a news site as well and some other things in the 更多 section.
Soso still has practically nothing of the search market, though. And they apparently license Google’s search technology instead of having their own…
We both seem to be reading on the same topic these days!
Uh, reposting cuz I don’t see it…
May 2, 2007 at 9:17 pm
SoSo’s search results are provided by Google…at least, they are in a lot of cases.
May 2, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Cha Shao Bao, Thanks for pointing that out. What my source said to me was that QQ is developing a search product and to watch for it. I assumed he meant SoSo. Perhaps SoSo is using Google for (some) searches now but plans to eventually totally replace Google with their own engine.
May 2, 2007 at 10:23 pm
davesgonechina, For some reason Akismet (WordPress.com’s spam filter) keeps throwing your comments in with the rest of the junk.
Though I did look, I completely missed the 地图搜索 link in the 更多 section. I even tried typing maps.soso.com. Ah, well it is map.soso.com.
May 2, 2007 at 10:27 pm
And Peking Duck’s filter blocks my dynamic IP. I’m starting to wonder if my city is a den of Chinese spamlords.
May 6, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Google remains extremely confident about its chances in China. Here’s CEO Eric Schmidt on April 27: “We are catching up. Our investment is working and we will eventually be the leader” in China. Rhetoric hasn’t been toned down much.
Still, it’s hard to doubt them.
June 21, 2007 at 6:47 am
What is SoSo’s search advertising like?
June 26, 2007 at 4:16 pm
[...] relieved that I don’t have to write yet another article about Baidu vs. Google, it’s Baidu against SoSo. SoSo is a locally grown search engine which also heavily uses Google for supplemental [...]