Baidu Executive Vice President highlights strategic growth
initiatives that have transformed the company's mobile ecosystem
into a comprehensive service provider
BEIJING, Dec. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dou Shen, Executive Vice President of Baidu,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), today analyzed the rise of the intelligent
economy and the resultant strategy of Baidu's Mobile Ecosystem
Group (MEG) during a keynote speech at Web Summit 2020. Shen
explained how Baidu's mobile ecosystem has been adapting to and
driving the intelligent transformation of the mobile internet
industry, leveraging Baidu's self-developed AI technologies to
provide users with more robust digital services.
"The rise of the intelligent economy is an inevitable trend
brought on by AI technology, and also the biggest priority for
companies that value technology investments," Shen said at Web
Summit, one of the largest technology conferences in the world that
brings together executives from leading technology companies. With
its leading AI technologies and commitment to innovation, Baidu's
mobile ecosystem is well-positioned to thrive in the era of the
intelligent economy.
Shen said the rise of the intelligent economy is bringing about
change on three dimensions. The first is changes in devices and how
users interact with them, as AI powers more and more intelligent
devices that can communicate naturally with people. Secondly, new
industry formats will come into being, spearheaded by intelligent
transformations across various industries. Thirdly, Shen mentioned
the impending shift in IT infrastructure, with AI chips,
deep-learning platforms, or AI algorithms replacing traditional
CPUs and operating systems as the backbone that will power the
contemporary intelligent economy.
In response to the changes brought about by the intelligent
economy, Baidu has identified three major growth opportunities,
Shen said in his presentation, namely service-oriented
transformations, humanization, and the adoption of digital
technology and AI across industries. The Baidu mobile ecosystem is
capitalizing on these growth opportunities through a three-pronged
strategic layout—Baijiahao for content creators, Smart Mini
Programs for content and service providers, as well as Managed
Pages for advertisers. Together, these pillars offer comprehensive
capabilities that meet users' fast-evolving needs, Shen said, and
form a solid foundation for the long-term growth of Baidu's mobile
ecosystem.
The first facet of growth generation is to carry out
service-oriented transformations, as users demand easier access to
services. Although search engines were once platforms that solely
provided information based on user queries, Baidu has since
repurposed the informative abilities of its software into an
integrated service ecosystem, establishing a convenient interface
that can be widely tailored towards comprehensive user needs.
"Baidu App is not only the largest platform for Chinese people
to obtain information and knowledge, it is also becoming a
comprehensive service portal," Shen said. "We have continuously
enriched the types of services we offer by introducing a wide range
of Smart Mini Programs that address various service needs. Users
can pay their electricity bill, book travel, rent a house, and
watch movies on various Smart Mini Programs, all without leaving
Baidu App."
The second facet of growth identified by Shen is to enhance
humanization across the entire mobile ecosystem, creating more
authentic connections between people. Baijiahao enables direct
links between users and its 3.6 million accounts.
"In the past, our creators were behind the scenes. We now use
various methods to connect creators and users directly, to shorten
the service process. Baidu provides opportunities for users to
directly communicate with the creator in our search results and
address more potential service needs along with relevant content,"
said Shen. Users can now use Baidu to form relationships with
content creators, service providers, and merchants, through
following, messaging, live video and so forth.
The third opportunity stems from the fact that an increasing
number of industries are bringing services online by implementing
digitalization and undergoing intelligent transformation. For
example, online healthcare has experienced explosive growth this
year amid the global pandemic. Baidu has offered free
pandemic-related consultations on "Ask Doctor", its online medical
consultation platform, allowing users to remotely access
personalized medical assessments from doctors through their
devices.
The optimization of Baidu's mobile ecosystem has allowed for
improved user search experience, accurate information research,
social media interaction and closed-loop purchase capabilities. In
September, monthly active users (MAUs) on the Baidu App reached 544
million, up 12% year over year.
This thriving, comprehensive mobile ecosystem sets a strong
foundation for Baidu to diversify beyond advertising into
non-advertising services, such as membership, live streaming and
online games. Aside from providing service solutions in different
situations based on users' information needs, Baidu will facilitate
in-depth cooperation with more partners to jointly develop a
comprehensive portal that will consistently bring the most
convenient applications to its users.
About Baidu
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search
provider. Baidu aims to make the complicated world simpler for
users and enterprises through technology. Baidu's ADSs trade on the
NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU." Currently, ten
ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.
Media Contact
Intlcomm@baidu.com