In 2000, two Chinese businessmen met in Beijing to launch the Baidu online startup. Not long after, it became the most popular search engine in China and one of the nation's tech titans, being the most widely used above Google. Now they are developing artificial intelligence and autonomous cars.

Baidu is often called "Google of China". It controls 70% of your Internet searches and, given the country's large population, is among the most used engines in the world.

The literal meaning of Baidu is "hundreds of times", which means that it presents you with persistent results of the ideal, so you will always find what you are looking for. In 2005, the company went public in the United States on Nasdaq, generating jobs for around 40,000 people around the world.

Baidu's headquarters are located in the capital of China, Beijing. Not only is it one of the largest companies, but due to the large volume of population, it is one of the largest companies in the world, behind Google, YouTube and Facebook. The main product is its search engine, but it also has additional platform extensions like maps, videos, and news.

It launches platforms you've probably never heard of, like Baidu Encyclopedia, the world's largest Chinese-language encyclopedia. And it is a majority shareholder in IQiyi called "China Netflix". Sound convincing to you?

It has very practical functionalities, such as the ability to search for audio files, this is due to the popularity of pop music in the country. But it is not only a search engine, it also has a very active social network, Baidu Tieba operates according to the principle of a forum in which users disseminate information about their interests, in this way, an almost autonomous discussion topic is formed that users create and participate, called Bar. There are numerous themes, which vary in different areas in which you can discuss or create. But the main thing is the interactivity of the site, everything is live so that the publication is successful and reaches other users who may be interested. Within this structure, the different themes have a group of people who make them up and maintain an independent government, as moderators. You will also find Baidu Knows, a type of Yahoo Answers in which you will find the replicas best valued by users.

There are many other things that you started or acquired over the years. Most of Baidu's revenue comes from advertising on its many platforms. It works in a similar way to Google Adwords in that it is a pay-per-click platform that allows advertisers to have their ads appear in results or on websites that are part of the Baidu network.

Baidu is among the list of top-earning online companies that make the most money from Netflix or eBay, but like all Chinese internet companies, Baidu is subject to strict internet censorship, in fact, the government fines companies , including this one, due to their inability to adequately censor the content of their platforms.

Its application has a design very similar to that of Google, it was launched in 2014 and quickly reached 500 million active users, with almost half of its total income coming from them. You can download it for free for Android and iOS devices.

At Baidu you have to be very careful when choosing keywords, as it may not pass censorship. There is a black list by which the company will base the content, which must be original and not exceed 300 words. The content that they find duplicate will be removed, so you will also have to be very careful that what you post is totally original.

The main difference between Baidu and other search engines is that to work with them you have to ask the Chinese government for permission and go through a bureaucratic process before you can operate on it.

To use Baidu you just have to install it on your mobile device and start using it, you don't need to create an account to use it as a search engine. If what you want is to appear in it or interact in its different tools, then you will have to have your own profile. The only limitation is the language, it is all in Chinese, but it is very easy to use, which makes this not an impediment.