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Baidu is the search engine of choice for China, at least for now. PaidContent reports that the Chinese company is experiencing ‘Google-esque” success in the largest growth market online in the world. Meanwhile Google itself is in a rather unfamiliar position
According to Bernstein & Co., Baidu’s share of the Chinese search market increased to 64.5 percent from 62.3 percent during the quarter, while Google may have lost share.
Google and the Chinese government have had their issues in the past but that can’t hide the fact that the Chinese people have spoken and they choose Baidu. The company is reaping the rewards of this popularity by posting some percentage increases that Google used to experience on a regular basis.
Let’s try something a little different as the focus goes to Twitter (yet again) and its impact on the free world’s ability to function properly. I have said on many occasions that regular users of Twitter are not the best people to be actually examining Twitter’s success or lack thereof. Why? Mainly because there seems to be this assumption that the rest of the world understands what Twitter is as well as social media ‘regulars’ do. The simple reality is that that kind of thinking is, how can I say this diplomatically….. stupid. The real fact of the matter is that most of the world is confused by Twitter. Fortunately, Biz and the boys (and girls) at Twitter are recognizing this fact and are taking steps to remedy the situation.
We have talked on several occasions here at Marketing Pilgrim about Google’s 
Facebook has milked the vanity URL deal for all its worth until this point so why not try to get a little more mileage out it, right? Over the past few months Facebook has been allowing individuals to choose their username but has put the rather strict caveat on the practice that it is a “one and done” proposition. In other words, when you make that fateful decision to make your vanity URL something that was something funny but not very practical you were stuck with it. Well, the mighty Facebook is showing its merciful side by allowing users to pick another username. Beware though, you only get one shot …… again.
With all of the talk regarding social media it seems that the inordinate amount of the attention goes to the big 2; Facebook and Twitter. While they do tend to generate significant drama and even some real news there is more to the social media space. In fact, there are those who see the social media universe fragmenting into very specific verticals so those of like mind can gather online without having to see that your friend just had a great breath of air. There’s got to be more right?
While everyone was busy admiring the performance of Apple during the second quarter of this year, other companies were trying to do some business as well. Among those was Yahoo. While Apple seems to trip over good news Yahoo has to work hard to keep itself out of the news for the wrong reasons. Yesterday it reported its Q2 numbers and the folks over at 
While it should come as no surprise, Apple is doing very well, thank you. Amidst all of the gloom and doom, the hand wringing and the concern over the future, Apple is simply rolling along as if to say “What recession?” In what will likely be a classic case study in business schools for the future, Apple has taken an approach to the market that is so revolutionary that it has to be examined. You see, they are providing high quality products that fill needs for their customers. In the process they have even created even more need due to the nature of their products and the possibilities they offer. That is just brilliant.
