The European-based automation and web design company Baidu, has put their domain names, brand names and trademarks up for sale on eBay.
Groningen, The Netherlands December 10, 2009 — The European-based automation and web design company Baidu, has put their domain names, brand names and trademarks up for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $250,000. The company hopes to sell these assets for $1.7 million dollars in 10 days when the auction has ended.
In 2008, Baidu Europe (baidu.eu) announced that it had the intention of selling its brand name and domain names due to the rapid growth of Baidu Inc (Nasdaq: BIDU), a very popular Chinese search engine. Baidu Inc. is now considered to be the world’s second largest search engine, the leading search engine in China. 76 percent of online searches in China are done at Baidu.com, compared to only 19.8 percent at Google, according to Search Engine Land. There is a fierce competition between Baidu.com and Google for worldwide search engine domination that is only expected to get more heated.
Since announcing their intention to sell their domains and brand names, Baidu Europe (baidu.eu) has spoken with several parties, among which are a Brazilian-based Internet company, an American adult search engine and a Thai search engine called Buzz Technologies Inc. Interested parties can now make a bid on eBay during the next 10 days. The highest bidder on eBay will become the owner of 16 Baidu domain names (including baidu.eu, baidu.tv/tel and baidu.me) and a valid brand name Baidu in 27 European countries and the United States.
List of the 16 Baidu domain names up for sale:
baidu.eu, baidu.tv, baidu.me, baidu.tel, baidu.nl, baidu.be, baidu.ch, baidu.cz, baidu.lt, baidu.lu, baidu.ie, baidu.gr, baidu.lv, baidu.li, baidu.co.nl and baidu.co.ee. In addition to the 16 domain names, the Baidu Twitter account, various Baidu trademarks, trade names and brands will be sold. The entire package will be sold together and not separately.
