Criticisms of Baidu and related controversies refer to the critical assessment of incidents involving Baidu (a large Chinese web services company) and its products by its customers (primarily in mainland China).
Domain name hijacking In September 2002, Baidu experienced a service outage. Baidu then urgently addressed "harmful" information (i.e., "sensitive" information), and its services returned to normal. Subsequently, mainland Chinese citizens who used the world wide web discovered that they were suddenly unable to access the Google website. This situation lasted nearly two weeks, forcing many users to abandon Google and switch to Baidu. During this time, the Google.com domain name was redirected to several search sites, including Baidu. Although access to Google was eventually restored, its services have remained highly unstable in mainland China ever since (and are now entirely inaccessible there). Additionally, the web cache feature was unavailable for an extended period.
Baidu President Robin Li denied that Baidu had engaged in such actions when questioned by students during a speech at Peking University.
On October 18, 2007, Google, Windows Live Search, and Yahoo! Kimo Search were once again hijacked and redirected to Baidu's domain, drawing widespread media attention both domestically and internationally.
On November 7, 2008, Shanghai Vixi, the parent company of VeryCD.com, a P2P resource-sharing website in mainland China, announced that some Beijing Netcom (now part of China Unicom) users experienced redirects to Baidu when attempting to access VeryCD.com, Emule.org.cn, Shooter.cn, BtChina, as well as international websites such as IsoHunt.com and Mininova.org. Subsequently, Netcom customer service staff stated that they were not involved in this matter.
Malware
Software Forced Bundle Installation See also:
The browser toolbar software developed by Baidu, originally called Baidu Super Soba, forced users to install it and could not be completely uninstalled. On July 11, 2005, it was named by the China Network Industry Association as one of the 10 pieces of malware and was ordered to undergo rectification. Baidu later responded that the renamed Baidu Super Soba, now called Baidu Toolbar, could be completely uninstalled. Additionally, some of Baidu's products were bundled with other software, causing a series of Baidu applications to be installed on users' computers or smart devices without their knowledge. This practice has led some users to refer to it as the 'Baidu Family Bucket.'
The website contains malicious code Main article:
On February 28, 2017, Huorong Security Laboratory intercepted, analyzed, tracked, and verified that malicious code was implanted when users downloaded software from two of Baidu's software download sites. Once the malicious code enters a computer, it employs various methods, such as loading drivers, to prevent removal, allowing it to remain hidden for extended periods. It can then be remotely controlled via the cloud to hijack various types of traffic, including navigation portals, e-commerce sites, and advertising networks.
Mobile Application Out-of-Scope Application Permission On January 5, 2018, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission determined that two of Baidu's mobile apps were suspected of infringing on consumers' personal rights and interests. After two unsuccessful negotiations, the commission filed a civil public interest lawsuit against Baidu. On January 11, the Information and Communication Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a meeting with Baidu's corporate representatives, requiring the company to strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations and adhere to the principles of legality, legitimacy, and necessity when collecting and using personal information. Meanwhile, Today's Headlines (Toutiao), which had a dispute with Baidu, reported that when searching for "Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Association" on Baidu, the official website's search result was marked in red with a warning: "Reminder: This page may not be accessible normally due to unstable service." At the same time, results from other search engines showed no such warning, and users were able to access the official website of the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Association without any issues.
Trademark infringement litigation On April 23, 2020, the Changsha Intellectual Property Court held a public trial in which Baidu sued Changsha Baidu Car Rental for trademark infringement and unfair competition.
Search Results Controversy Main article:
Death of Wei Zexi
In 2014, Wei Zexi, a sophomore in the Computer Science Department of Xidian University, was diagnosed with advanced synovial sarcoma. After undergoing various chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, Wei Zexi's family sought the so-called "tumor biological immunotherapy" (DC-CIK therapy) at the Tumor Biology Center of the Second Hospital of the Beijing Municipal Armed Police Corps, which had been recommended by Baidu. However, despite spending significant amounts of money (over 200,000 yuan) and time, the treatment proved ineffective. Wei Zexi died on April 12, 2016. The incident gained widespread attention during the May Day holiday, leading to a sharp drop in Baidu's stock price. Chinese public opinion, including state media, heavily criticized Baidu. In addition to Baidu being implicated as a major suspect and undergoing regulatory scrutiny, it was revealed that the hospital had outsourced its oncology department to the controversial Putian network of private hospitals. As a result, the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps was delisted, and related individuals were prosecuted. Shortly after the incident, a former Baidu employee alleged that Baidu used free WiFi devices, installed in collaboration with certain hospitals, to collect data from devices connected to these WiFi networks. However, this claim has not been verified.
Promote gambling site events On July 17, 2016, a reporter from The Beijing News discovered that Baidu began promoting illegal content, such as gambling, at around 10 p.m. and quietly removed it by 9 a.m. the following day. On July 18, Sina News reported on the issue, highlighting Baidu's severe management negligence and incompetence at the administrative level. The report stated that "most of Baidu's non-enterprise channel user authentication information is misappropriated, and the companies whose information is stolen are completely unaware. Even if they file complaints, agents or non-enterprise channel sales representatives will immediately deactivate the 'reported accounts' and register new accounts under another company the next day to continue the promotions."
On the afternoon of July 18, 2016, Baidu responded that the gambling information on the implicated websites had been privately and illegally modified late at night by enterprises in violation of regulations. Baidu also reported the matter to public security authorities.
On July 20, 2016, Baidu shut down all commercial promotion pages. By the end of July 2016, Baidu resumed its commercial promotion pages.
Encountered fraud while searching for foreign wine recycling on Baidu. In December 2016, a Shenzhen resident, Ms. Yi, reported to the CCTV news hotline that she owned a bottle of Louis XIII cognac, valued at over 20,000 yuan. As she was preparing to move, Ms. Yi decided to sell the bottle. Using her mobile phone, she searched on Baidu with the keyword "foreign wine recycling Shenzhen" and found a promotional advertisement for a company called "Shenzhen Ruya Gift Recycling Company." She chose this company to collect the wine at her home. When representatives from the gift recycling company arrived, Ms. Yi refused to proceed with the transaction as their offer was lower than her expected price. However, while Ms. Yi was unprepared, the company's representatives swapped her genuine cognac for a fake bottle. The following day, after discovering the swap, Ms. Yi immediately called the police and contacted Baidu's customer service to request compensation and to have the company's advertisement removed from Baidu. Customer service responded that Baidu has a protection plan, but since Ms. Yi had not logged into her Baidu account when conducting the search, she was not eligible for compensation. Regarding the fraudulent company's advertisement on Baidu, customer service stated that the issue would be followed up, but local law enforcement would need to provide the necessary documentation.
Fake NARS Chinese mainland official website incident In July 2017, some netizens reported to Beijing Youth Daily that they encountered a fake Chinese mainland official website when searching for NARS brand cosmetics on Baidu. After logging into the counterfeit website and purchasing products through Alipay, the money was transferred to a personal account. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily searched Baidu using the keyword "NARS China official website" and found that the top search result was titled "NARS Brand Chinese Website."The reporter contacted the Shiseido Group, which owns the NARS brand, to verify the authenticity of the website. Customer service confirmed that the website was counterfeit, as NARS products had not yet entered the Chinese mainland market. Additionally, the quality of the products sold on the website could not be guaranteed. Regarding the legal issues involved with the counterfeit website, a reporter consulted Han Xiao, a lawyer from Beijing Kangda Law Firm. Han Xiao explained that, according to Article 44 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers of the People's Republic of China:"If the provider of an online trading platform knows or should know that the seller or service provider uses its platform to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and fails to take necessary measures, it shall be jointly and severally liable with the seller or service provider by law."Therefore, consumers have the right to demand joint and several liability from both the online platform and the seller.
Fake Apple official after-sales repair shop incident On January 21, 2018, a Sina Weibo user named "Yan Gongzi of Yijin Night Walking" posted on Weibo that when searching for "Apple mobile phone repair" on Baidu, the top result displayed the phone number "4006368800." However, after calling the number, the user found it suspicious and decided to check the official Apple website. There, they discovered that the official customer service number was "4006668800," differing by just one digit. Apple's official customer service also confirmed that "4006368800" was not associated with them in any way. Other netizens reported having been scammed by this fake Apple phone repair shop.
"Fuda Hospital" advertising event