2021年经济学人 百度--下一个风口(1)

Business

商业版块

Baidu

百度

Searching for the next big thing

搜索下一个风口

China’s biggest search engine turns to personal transport to drive profits

中国最大搜索引擎转向个人出行领域谋利

Robin¹ Li smiled when asked at a corporate² shindig in 2014 to reflect on his path to becoming, at the time, China’s richest man. “I’m just lucky,” he insisted. Mr Li, co-founder and boss of Baidu, a Beijing-based search engine, may have been trying to project modesty³. But his words could also have been taken literally⁴. Thanks to government censorship, Google is inaccessible⁵ in mainland China. That leaves Baidu as the unrivalled leader in Chinese search. Slowing advertising⁶ revenues, however, are now taking it down a different road.

在2014年的一次企业研讨会上，被问及如何成为当时的中国首富的李彦宏微微一笑。他坚称，“只是侥幸。”李彦宏是搜索引擎百度（总部位于北京）的联合创始人兼老板，他可能一直在试图展现自己谦逊的一面。但他的话也可以照字面理解。由于政府审查，中国内地无法访问谷歌。这使得百度在中国搜索领域难逢敌手。然而，广告收入增长的放缓使百度选择另辟蹊径。

Baidu’s search dominance is indisputable. Its average of 538m monthly active users last year was nearly six times the combined total of the next three domestic rivals. Baidu’s share price has tripled in a year, taking its market capitalisation to $93bn. Riding this wave of investor⁷ enthusiasm, it has filed for a secondary listing in Hong Kong, with trading set to begin on March 23rd. The firm is expected to raise around $4bn. But the steep rise in Baidu’s valuation might seem unwarranted. Advertising, the main source of revenue, has suffered as the pandemic forced Chinese businesses to cut marketing⁸ budgets. Adverts⁹ on Baidu’s main search service brought in 66.3bn yuan ($9.6bn) in 2020, 5% less than the year before.

百度在搜索领域的主导地位毋庸置疑。该公司去年平均每月活跃用户量为5.38亿，是紧随其后的三家国内竞争对手用户量总和的近6倍。百度的股价在一年内翻了三番，市值达到930亿美元。在投资者热情的推动下，百度已申请在香港二次上市，交易定于3月23日开始。预计该公司将融资约40亿美元。但百度估值的急剧上升似乎是毫无理由的。由于新冠疫情迫使中国企业削减营销预算，作为主要收入来源的广告受到影响。2020年，百度主要搜索服务的广告收入为663亿元人民币（合96亿美元），比上年减少了5%。

Even as China’s economy recovers advertising is unlikely to propel Baidu’s growth as powerfully as before. In recent years the supply of digital ad space in China has multiplied, depressing prices. Businesses can now choose from an array of platforms on which to hawk¹⁰ their wares—from addictive¹¹ video apps like Kuaishou to e-commerce upstarts like Pinduoduo.

即使在中国经济复苏之际，广告也不太可能像以前那样有力地推动百度的利润增长。近年来，中国数字广告空间的供应量成倍增加，导致广告价格不断压低。想要兜售自己产品的企业现在有一系列平台可供选择，从快手等令人上瘾的视频应用，到拼多多等电子商务新贵。

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

10 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

11 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。