V3.co.uk posted a news story that Microsoft has signed a deal with Chinese search company Baidu in a move which could help its Bing engine turn up the heat on Google in the largest search market

Microsoft currently has no stake in the Chinese search market. Figures from Chinese internet tracker iResearch for the first quarter of this year suggest that Baidu has 74 per cent and Google 23 per cent.

Google became less competitive at the beginning of 2010 when the company moved its operating base from the mainland to Hong Kong because it did not agree with Chinese government censorship of search results.

  Microsoft gains on Google with Bing Baidu partnership