Wei Zexi, a 21-year-old college student, died of synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on April 12. The death of the young man raised a public outcry in China, since he had shared on social media a bitter and tortuous experience about how he searched on Baidu to find hospitals to get better treatment, but was deceived by its search engine optimization system into choosing an inferior clinic which appeared to be top-rated. There, his family wasted valuable time and spent more than 200,000 yuan ($31,000) on a therapy that has no proven treatment outcomes.
The hospital, which seemed trustworthy because of its military background, subcontracted a cancer center to an unqualified private company. This joint venture was heavily condemned by the public for jeopardizing patients' interests. The authorities have been accused of neglecting their supervisory duty. But Baidu, China's search engine monopoly, long-criticized for profiteering from advertising without proper screening, has borne the brunt of public blame after the news broke.
As a hub of information gathering and distribution, Baidu has been operating in a gray area where the rule of law, business profits and public interests are intertwined. By employing an advertising strategy called bidding rank, the IT company earns tens of billions of yuan from enterprises every year.
After Wei's death, Baidu's PR team issued a statement, in which they offered some evidence to prove the hospital is accredited by the authorities in cancer treatment. It is true, but Baidu apparently did the minimum to establish whether the accreditation really matches its qualifications, because the therapy the clinic advocates can be easily laid bare by professionals as being little more than quackery.
Baidu's actual monopolization of search services in China gives it an overwhelming edge in information control. Giving less attention to the public interest of its service, Baidu is abusing its advantage of information asymmetry for its own benefits. Though it is unfair for Baidu to take the full blame, Baidu must face discipline by authorities for its unscrupulous activities, driven by desire for profits. A similar incident happened to Google in 2011. After being discovered by US authorities for knowingly showing illegal ads for fraudulent pharmacies, the company which previously flaunted its corporate slogan of "Don't be evil," reached a settlement of $500 million with the government.
Yesterday evening, China's Internet watchdog announced an investigation into the case. The authorities should build a solid and reliable supervision system, leading enterprises to form basic understandings about corporate responsibilities and thus avoid being manipulated by the power of capital, so that order in cyberspace can be streamlined.