百度可能面临进一步的起诉
Legal challenge mounts against Baidu's online business modelBaidu, China's largest internet search engine, looks set to face a wave of legal challenges as a group of lawyers is organising a mass complaint against the company's business practices.
Led by Li Changqing, who filed the first complaint under China's new antimonopoly law against Baidu in October, the group said it had enlisted more than 50 companies that were willing to sue Baidu, and the mass complaint would be filed once the number had risen to 100.
The plan aims to test Baidu's willingness to adjust its business model in response to what critics have billed as a crisis of confidence in the Nasdaq-listed Chinese company.
It also raises the pressure on the Chinese government to decide whether to continue supporting a company long favoured over foreign rivals as a “national champion”.
Baidu holds 70 per cent of the Chinese internet search market, far ahead of Google, whose market share is estimated at 26 per cent. Baidu derives its revenues from auctioning search keywords and includes search results generated through this practice in the overall result list rather than separating them clearly.
The lawyers' initiative follows a barrage of criticism after state television in November attacked the Baidu business model and accused the company of giving top listings to unlicensed medical websites and blocking websites that refused to pay for listings.
Baidu has said it has erased all unlicensed websites from its search results and is working on a new program that would mark sponsored search results more clearly. However, the company said it would stick to its overall business model centred on the keyword auctions.
Baidu has denied blocking websites that refuse to take part in the bidding. Baidu did not respond to requests for comment.
中国最大的互联网搜索引擎百度可能将面临一系列法律挑战。一个律师团体正在组织一起针对百度商业行为的大规模起诉。
这一律师团体的领头人是李长青，根据中国新的反垄断法，他于10月份提交了针对百度的首份反垄断调查申请。该团体表示，已有50多家愿意对百度提起诉讼的公司加入了他们的行列，一旦数目超过100，那么这起大规模起诉将正式提交。
该计划将考验百度是否会因为公众批评而调整自己的商业模式。批评人士称，这家纳斯达克上市公司面临一场信心危机。
同时，这一起诉计划还会给中国政府增加压力，要求其决定是否继续支持百度。长期以来，与外国竞争者相比，百度作为“国家冠军”，一直受到中国政府青睐。
百度占据中国互联网搜索市场70%的份额，远远超过谷歌估计为26%的市场占有率。拍卖搜索关键词，并在用户搜索结果中混合显示买下这些关键词的公司链接（而非单独列出)，是百度获得收入的方式。
该律师团体准备提起诉讼之前，百度已面临一系列批评。11月，中国国营电视台节目抨击了百度的商业模式，指责该公司将一些没有执照的医药网站置于搜索结果顶端，同时屏蔽那些不愿支付竞价排名费的公司网站。
百度表示，已从搜索结果中移除了所有没有执照的网站，并正努力开展一个新项目，以在搜索结果中将付费用户的链接更清楚地标注出来。然而，该公司称，总体上仍将沿用关键词竞价排名的商业模式。
百度否认曾对那些不愿参与竞价排名的公司网站进行屏蔽。该公司没有对置评请求予以回应。
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