Qihoo ordered to pay 700,000 yuan compensation to Baidu

Internet security and online search company Qihoo 360 was today ordered to pay 700,000 yuan (US$112,903) of compensation to Baidu for breaking the industry rules of online search.

Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court said that it found Qihoo 360 to have been involved in unfair competition as it took content from Baidu's website regardless of the Robots protocols, a widely accepted industry rule in the online search sector.

The court found that Qihoo took Baidu's content without the latter's consent through its 360 Browser and search engine in 2012.

Baidu sued Qihoo 360 for unfair competition and asked for 100 million yuan of compensation and argued that Qihoo 360 should stop taking information from its website and online discussion groups. The court heard the case in October last year.

Qihoo 360 and Baidu have been involved in a number of conflicts as the two companies are fighting for market share in the online search sector.

The Robots protocols on a website specify what kind of information can be accessed by external search engine sites.