Taobao launches Chinese search engine

Alibaba Group’s auction site Taobao has long been rumoured to be developing its own search engine. The site has been launched at search.taobao.com and allows users to search for products available on Taobao.

According to local reports, the search site will include only organic searches with no bid-ranked positions. The company further suggested Taobao internally developed the technology for the engine, with some reports claiming insiders had denied it uses programming from Google and Yahoo.

Taobao is also thought to be linking with Lenovo to pre-install its search-application technology onto 300,000 handsets. Taobao has not commented on the deal.

According to Jiao Jie, a senior analyst at BDA China, Taobao’s advancement in search is critical to maintaining its leading e-commerce position in China.

“I think search service is necessary for all e-commerce sites. Searching for products through external engines like Google and Baidu helps this, but as more and more people look to e-commerce sites to search for products directly, they’ll go more frequently to the place with the most convenient tools,” she said. “And if Taobao co-operates with a mobile vendor, I think that will helpusers conveniently get into the site and maybe advance e-commerce overall.”

Taobao itself has seen rapid growth this year. In September, Alibaba officially launched Taobao’s localised site in Taiwan, and in August, the group shifted its classified listings site Koubei.com from Yahoo China to auction site Taobao.

The site also linked with Youku earlier in the summer to provide a video gallery for digital retailers, and partnered with Uniqlo to allow the retailer to establish a flagship store on the e-commerce website for shoppers in the country.