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Case Study

Baidu: Beating Google at its own game?

By Didier Cossin and Ann Zhang

30 pages

December 2008

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Reference: IMD-1-0275

“Google is the closest thing the Web has to an ultimate answer machine,” yet, it did not have an answer to its own Chinese dilemma – how it can go into China and yet not be evil; how it can make its investments in China work and eventually be the leader. This case looks at two leading internet search and online advertising companies: Google and Baidu – its major Chinese rival that had achieved something that Microsoft had not yet managed – beating Google. It compares these two companies by looking at both the global and the local level in China and allows for discussions on strategy, financial health and performance, valuation and market dynamics, investment strategy on risk and correlation, and etc.

Learning Objective

Offers the opportunity to compare and discuss a full range of issues on business strategy, strategy relating to China, financial performance, valuation, market dynamics as well as investment strategies.

Keywords

Financial Analysis, Financial Performance, Valuation, Over-valuation, Market Dynamics, Investment Strategy, Risk, Risk Correlation, International, Online Advertising

Settings

World/global
Google
2007-2008

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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