Panguso () is a Chinese company offering the search engine Panguso.com, which is used mostly in Chinese. Compared to its private competitors, the Chinese

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...

and the US-based

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, which are used more frequently in China, the two shareholders of this joint venture are the state-owned Chinese news agency

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

and the in 2011 worldwide largest mobile telecommunication provider

China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited () and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (, formerly known as China Mobile Communications Corporation, "CMCC"), a Chinese state-ownedSt ...

. On March 1, 2014, Panguso merged with Jike and became ChinaSo.

Founding

The founding of the search engine Panguso has been announced in August 2010. In December 2010 the beta version went online and in late February 2011 it was officially launched. The homepage redirects to the 'news' section, where the user is provided with the first headlines beneath the search windows. News are also building the focal point of the search engine. The company brings together as partners the state monopolistic largest Chinese content provider

and the largest Chinese mobile communication provider with 550 million customers in 2010. The search engine is planned to be pre-installed on cell phones and therefore is a response to Google, which started their google phone.

Evaluation

The major competitive disadvantage of the search engine is its official nature. Following an Internet study of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Internet user especially are interested in pluralistic viewpoints and information not originating from the state-owned information channel. Following Qian Xiaoqian, a member of the Chinese State Council, the search engine will "offer useful and healthy features as well as strive for the restriction of dissemination of illegal contents like pornography and glorification of violence".Gole
Werner Pluta, 'Panguso - Official Chinese search engine started (Offizielle chinesische Suchmaschine startet)', in: Golem (2/23, 2011)
/ref> The results shown by Panguso are more restricted than by the Hong Kong-based daughter of US-based

and even more restricted as by

baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...

Sources

"State starts own search engine (Staat startet eigene Internet-Suchmaschine)"
in: RP Online (3/1/2011) * Christoph Ricking: "Panguso, Interview with Martin Woesler"
radio broadcasting (Chinese)
, in: Voice of Germany, Chinese Program (3/1/2011) * Christoph Ricking: "Baidu Beat, Interview with Martin Woesler"
radio broadcasting (Chinese)
, in: Voice of Germany, Chinese Program (1/12/2011)

External links

Website of Panguso
(Cached on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

)
Website of ChinaSo
Online companies of China