Google Inc said it has sold its stake in Chinese rival Baidu.com (
Google registered to sell all of the 749,625 shares of Beijing-based Baidu.com Inc it owns, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filer of such a document is granted permission to sell the shares within 90 days after the registration.
Google snapped up about 2.6 percent of Baidu.com's outstanding Class A ordinary shares for approximately US$5 million prior to the Chinese search engine's initial public offering last year.
US$60 million
The shares are valued at more than US$60 million, based on Baidu.com's current stock price.
Baidu.com, often called the ``Chinese Google,'' went public last August. Its US depositary shares hit a high of US$151.31 on their first day of trading, up from the IPO price of US$27 each. The shares fell to a low of US$44.44 each on Feb. 6.
In related news, Google started offering commercial videos online for free to attract more users and advertisers seeking to reach them.
The videos, including episodes of The Charlie Rose Show and films such as Billy the Kid, are available for free and are sponsored by advertisers, Google said today on its Web site.
online shows
Google started selling television shows online in January, charging users a fee for each episode. The free videos usually sell from US$0.30 to US$14.99, Google said.
The free videos are displayed alongside a small text ad and the logo of the sponsor. Initial sponsors include computer-maker Hewlett-Packard Co, online video rental site Netflix Inc and Burger King Holdings Inc, the second-biggest US hamburger chain.
Users can also click to see video advertisements from the sponsors. Google is only making a selection of its videos available for free. Shows such as CBS Corp's Survivor still cost US$1.99 an episode.
competition
Making shows available for free may spark new competition for Apple Computer Inc's iTunes Music Store, which began selling videos online in October.
Apple charges US$1.99 per episode for shows such as Desperate Housewives, made by Walt Disney Co's ABC.
Google's move, reported yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, highlights how media companies are searching for workable business models to sell video content online.
Disney, the second-biggest US media company, in April announced a test for making primetime ABC shows available online for free.
The shows are funded by advertising that users aren't able to skip.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS