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Baidu bullish despite challenging second quarter

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By Charlotte McEleny, Asia Editor

July 29, 2016 | 3 min read

Baidu has asserted its confidence in its platform as it revealed its second quarter results, despite experiencing a “tough” second quarter.

Baidu revenues increase but profits take a hit

The business announced that revenues had grown by 10.2 per cent year-on-year to RMB18.264 billion ($2.748 billion). However, profit fell to RMB2.866 billion ($431.3 million), a 17.4 per cent decrease from the same period in 2015.

Robin Li, Chairman and CEO of Baidu, said: "The challenges Baidu faced in the second quarter served as a healthy reminder to stay focused on the key drivers of growth, sustainability and leadership: delivering the best user experience and staying at the forefront of technology. As we enter the next chapter of the Internet, led by artificial intelligence, Baidu has never been better positioned to serve our users and work with our customers and partners, and change the world through technology."

The business has been rocked by a series of high profile issues with its advertising business this year. Baidu was called out for its practices around selling access to forums early this year. Not long after it also agreed to overhaul the way it delivers its search ads, including the volume of ads served, after a huge public backlash saw Baidu taking some of the blame for the death of a student who died after taking experimental cancer treatment that he found from a search ad.

The overhaul has been welcomed by the industry which believes will create a better user experience, particularly on mobile.

The business said the revenue from mobile was growing as it represented 62 per cent of total revenues for the second quarter of 2016, compared to 50 per cent in 2015. According to Baidu, mobile search monthly active users were 667 million for the month of June 2016, an increase of 6 per cent year-over-year. It said users of its mobile maps service grew by 13 per cent and the number of activated Baidu Wallet accounts reached 80 million, representing a 131 per cent year-on-year growth.

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