Baidu's profits for the quarter ended June 30 reached 2.77 billion yuan (US$440 million), up from 1.63 billion yuan in the same period last year. Revenue hit the higher end of its forecast, growing by 60 percent year over year to 5.46 billion yuan.

Baidu controls 78.6 percent of the Internet search revenue in China, according to Beijing-based Analysys International. Google is in a distant second place with 15.7 percent, its presence in China having diminished after it decided on a partial retreat from the country because of its concerns over online censorship and hacking.

Nearly all of Baidu's revenue comes from online marketing, for which it says it had 352,000 active customers in the quarter just ended. It will roll out new marketing tools for its advertising customers to help it maintain its steady growth, CEO Robin Li said in a statement.

For the quarter under way, Baidu expects its revenue to increase by 49.6 percent to 53.5 percent year over year.