Baidu shuts down Twitter-like service

10.08.2011
China's largest search engine Baidu has pulled back from the country's Twitter-like services market after the company said it would shutdown its own microblogging website.

Called in English, the site was search giant's attempt to tap into the country's booming microblogging market. Rival sites from Chinese companies have established their own Twitter-like services, with active microblogging users now at 174 million, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Baidu Talk was launched last September as a social networking platform that incorporated Twitter-like features. But the site had tried to set itself apart from the competition by originally requiring all users .

In the first three months of operation as closed beta, the site attracted more than 1 million registered users. But after being online for almost a year, Baidu announced on the site this week that it would be suspending all services later this month.

Baidu declined to give specific reasons for the site's closing. In a e-mailed statement, the company said Baidu Talk had allowed the company to gather more valuable experience in developing its social networking services strategy. The company added that features on Baidu Talk will be incorporated in other Baidu products.

Baidu has already dominated China's search engine market, beating out Google to grab 80 percent of all Internet search queries, according to CNZZ.com, an analytical Internet research site.