Baidu earns while Google squirms

From the Financial Times:

Baidu.com, China’s most frequently used internet search engine, said net profits last year rose nearly fourfold to RMB47.6m ($5.9m), driven by online advertising sales…

…For the full year, Baidu said revenues were up 172 per cent at RMB319.2m, while fourth-quarter sales were 168 per cent higher than the same period last year at RMB114.9m, exceeding projections by Wall Street analysts.

Baidu’s financial results suggest there has been sustained demand for online search and advertising services in the country…

…The company said it currently had 63,000 online advertisers.

The article does not give numbers for Google’s performance in China, but it ends with a little dig at Google from Baidu founder Robin Li:

“For us, it’s very simple – we just obey the Chinese law,” said Mr Li. “We grew up in this country – we understand better [when it comes to the rules and culture] – it’s really up to them [foreign companies] to do whatever they want to do.”