The nearly-a-decade-old search engine Baidu is not only China’s most powerful search engine – boasting a 64 percent Internet search market share in the country – but is also, surprisingly, the third-largest search engine in the world.

Baidu – the word literally means “hundreds of times” – derives a chunk of its revenues via a pay-for-performance search platform; and, quite similar to Internet search giant Google, it also works on a pay-per-click model for generating revenues from ads.

In the 2009 calendar year, Baidu boasted a whopping 41 percent year-on-year increase in revenues, with its documented opearting margins reportedly being 38 percent and return on equity being 40 percent.

In spite of its strong foothold in China, Baidu – which, together with Google, boasts an almost 95 percent share – has not shown any kind of complacency in its strategies. It has, over the last few years, been rolling out newer products and services like an easy-to-use search platform called Box Computing, and Baidu mobile application, among a host of others.

In addition, Baidu has also been offering mobile-search applications, thanks to its strategic partnerships with companies like China Telecom and China Unicom.

Baidu, which was years remained focused on Chine, also spread out to Japan in 2008; thereby hinting at the possibility it might further expand its search services, including wireless search, to some other Asian countries as well.