Get the free version of Marbridge Daily delivered to your inbox

Click here to subscribe

Users Discover Misleading Search Results for Dental Hospitals on Baidu

Sina Tech, 8/14/17

Users are reportedly encountering fake advertisements when searching for dental hospitals on Chinese internet company Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) search engine, according to several reports in Chinese news media. One of the dental hospitals involved, Rytime Dental, issued an announcement warning that searching for "Rytime Dental Hospital" on Baidu will bring up links to other medical organizations posing as Rytime Dental. Patients who click on these links will not be taken to Rytime Dental's official website, but rather to another medical institution's site.

Since this matter was exposed by users on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, Baidu's marketing services department has adjusted the search results, and the ads have been removed.

According to Sina Tech, when searching for dental hospitals on Baidu.com or Baidu's mobile app, three to five of the top search results are ads recommending hospitals that have nothing to do with the hospital searched for.

Another Weibo user also reported that Baidu search could have a problem with leaking user information. This user claims that after performing a Baidu search about not feeling well, the user received a telemarketing phone call from a person claiming to be a hospital staff member.

Keywords: online advertising online healthcare Internet Baidu BIDU online search mobile search wireless scandal

Feedback

Please note, all fields are required.
None of your personal information will be shared with third parties.

SendingSending

Disclaimer

The information contained in this newsletter is based upon sources that Marbridge Consulting believes to be reliable, and we have made every effort to translate the original articles or article excerpts as faithfully as possible. However, Marbridge Consulting makes no warranty of and assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy of either the original source material or the English language translations.

Marbridge Daily Premium

Interested in gaining full access to all newsletter articles and the Marbridge Daily archive? To learn more about premium subscription options, including pricing, please:

Click here

Marbridge Consulting RSS Feed

Marbridge Reports