A lot is happening in the world of search in China, with Baidu announcing major M&As and partnerships in the last few months which seems to boost the number one player’s dominance in every area of the Internet here.

So, what are the Internet users thinking about when it comes to online search preferences and related services? We’ll focus on video content and English language search in this article.

We did a comparison of data from our on-going Omnibus research on China Search Engines between last year and this year (2010 vs. 2011) and this is what we’ve found:

When it comes to favorite things that they do online, it is clear that SNS usage and entertainment related content is on the raise.

We see a good jump in SNS and IM preference which shows the importance and impact that social media is having here, with so much buzz on Weibo usage it’s no wonder that there is a jump in these two categories (since Tencent’s QQ IM account is now automatically tied to its own Weibo).

*Please click on graph to enlarge

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, Sept. 2011

The increase in Music and Download/Upload just meant that there is a dramatic change in usage behavior which can be attributed to the popularity of video streaming sites. We have since added a specific selection for video streaming in the above which will validate this point.

But what is interesting is when we asked Baidu and Google users how they are watching streaming videos; it is evident that the video usage habits is quite different to the norm especially when Baidu is pushing its own video assets heavily in all search results containing the keyword “Video” or “Movies.” It’s interesting that the search results do not go to Qiyi, the video website which Baidu founded.

*Please click on graph to enlarge

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, Sept. 2011

We see that Google users have much more affinity for the top video sites as compared with Baidu users. It’s hard to determine why there is such a dramatic difference but our read is that it has to do with loyalty factors as we we’ve seen in previous analysis that Google users are just more brand loyal and tend to be more brand conscious.

*Please click on graph to enlarge

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, Sept. 2011

When it comes to IM we are seeing some good increase for MSN which may be even more problematic for QQ since the new partnership between Microsoft and Baidu, with Bing providing the English search for the China search giant. Some type of push for MSN on Baidu is definitely likely to happen.

*Please click on graph to enlarge

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, Sept 2011

But as more Internet users come online in China, it definitely looks like Google is losing market share. We see increases in favorability for Baidu and the other Chinese players, but with Bing not going anywhere. This data validates two things; one is that new users in China are being converted early into using Baidu with its branding but also more marketing activities. Two is that Google is holding its ground in foreign language search and continue to dominate the Chinese market among multinational search engines. Will the current status change with the Microsoft/Baidu partnership? Will be interesting to see if Bing makes a dent here?

*Please click on graph to enlarge

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, Sept 2011

It will be very interesting to see how Baidu can leverage its new acquisitions such as travel search site Qunar and also it’s numerous partnerships to really expand its business and revenue, but from what we are seeing with projects such as its ecommerce endeavor YOUA it is just much better at its core business which is like an 800-pound gorilla.

Number of Samples: 2010: N=1129 2011: N=181
Data Capture Period: 2009.6.30 – 2011.9.10

China Polling conducts Omnibus Surveys on an ongoing basis to provide continuous tracking of consumer trends in China. This approach to tracking consumer behavior will allow companies looking to enter the China market to get the most up-to-date information about what’s hot and what’s not here in China. All real-time datasets are available for purchase online. Additional questions can be added into the Omnibus Survey and fielded at any time.