Alibaba Resumes SEM Spend on Baidu
Sina Tech, 5/24/13
Hangzhou-based C2C & B2C e-commerce site Taobao and its e-commerce search engine Etao — both subsidiaries of Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group — recently purchased a large volume of ad keywords on a number of search engines, including Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU).
Alibaba's relationship with Baidu hit an all-time low in 2008 due to the two companies' competition in the e-commerce space. Alibaba and Baidu both released statements denouncing one another, and Alibaba blocked Baidu's search spiders from indexing its webpages. Taobao and Alibaba.com also announced that they would no longer place ads on Baidu's platforms.
Neither Alibaba nor Baidu has responded for comment on their apparent rapprochement. A spokesperson for Baidu said that the company "welcomed improved partnerships with any and all customers."
Keywords: e-commerce Taobao Internet Baidu BIDU Alibaba Group Etao online search search advertising