China's pre-eminent search engine Baidu has increased its market share in the country's top cities, while Californian rival Google has slipped back, according to a new report.The research, published by China IntelliConsulting Corporation (CIC), indicated that Baidu has increased its market share over the last 12 months in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, the three major cities surveyed.
According to the results, Baidu accounted for 69.5 per cent of the market, a rise of 7.6 per cent over the last year.
Google, on the other hand, dropped by 1.1 per cent over the 12 months and was found to account for just 23 per cent.
Yahoo!, rival to both Google and Baidu, incurred the greatest loss in market share, falling 2.9 per cent and reaching just 2.3 per cent of the online audience over the last 12 months.
However, over the last six months, Google has made slight inroads in the battle for online popularity, enjoying a rise in market share of 1.4 per cent, while Baidu only gained 0.5 per cent over the same period.
According to CIC, this could mean "that Google may have finally reached its break point in China".
The corporation also suggested that Google's gains in the past six months have mainly been the result of its increasing popularity with students, while Baidu remains more popular with "high-end" users.
Earlier this month, Baidu launched an online video advertising service called Baidu TV, which it hopes will help drive its profits up and extend its advantage over competitors in the country.
