Lawsuit Against Baidu Nears Court With More Weight Than Ever

The Chinese Business News on Tuesday reported that Wang Fengchang, CEO of legal information and lawyer listing site lawease.cn, has signed up more than 100 sites to file a class action lawsuit against Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU). The lawsuit stems from publishers claiming fraudulent clicks, unlawful sales practices and trademark violation. Baidu intimidated companies into becoming bid-ranking clients or threatened they would be blocked in search results. They have also been accused over selling ads to illegal medical companies. Involved in the 100-site alliance are e-commerce websites in the medical, travel and home appliance industries.
On top of the current lawsuit, the State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC) is soon to begin investigate Baidu for anti-monopoly violations. The company has over 70% market share in China.
As the eeconomy struggles, search companies have had to find new avenues for both gaining market share and turn dollars. We have questioned both Google and Baidu’s practices over the last few months to try and generate extra revenue from new advertisers and industries once shunned by both giants.