• Ars Technica , Thursday, August 7, 2008 11:30 AM

Google, the worldwide leader in search, is taking on Baidu.com, the undisputed No.1 in China, by launching its own music search site -- except this one only points users to music that's legal to distribute. The site, which is only available to Chinese users, points to songs hosted by Top100.cn, a Chinese music site backed by NBA star Yao Ming. It will be ad-supported, with Top100.cn sharing the ad revenue with its music partners.

Ars Technica says the move is a direct response to Baidu's dominance of the music search market. The Chinese search leader has made a name for itself providing deep links to endless quantities of illegal music. Recently, the Music Copyright Society of China and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) questioned Baidu for its MP3 deep-linking policies in lawsuits filed against the search engine for enabling copyright infringement. Three labels represented by the IFPI seek a maximum of $9 million in damages, though the organization claims Baidu could be forced to pay billions in reparations.

Google, meanwhile, was full of rhetoric about its new, legal music site. "The Internet industry should by no means stand in the opposite camp against the music industry," Google China President Kai-fu Lee told Reuters. "Google always believes profoundly that mutual interest, rather than monopoly, is the key to sustainable growth."

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