(Graphics/GT)
Baidu Maps recently got caught up in a dispute with its arch rival AutoNavi. The two companies are employing different strategies to conquer the mobile mapping industry in China. According to one report, users prefer Baidu Maps. But analysts remain polarized about which one will end up the winner.
Baidu Inc's mapping unit recently initiated a nationwide activity to improve its positioning technology through user feedback, causing a spat with rival AutoNavi Holdings.
The activity, which runs until May 14, asks participants to test and compare the mapping services offered by Baidu and AutoNavi, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holding.
To encourage drivers to join in, Baidu Maps pledged an award of up to 50 yuan ($7.70) for valuable feedback. The activity has been perceived as an open challenge to AutoNavi, a forerunner in developing navigation and positioning technology in China.
On April 18, AutoNavi responded to the provocation on its microblog account by criticizing Baidu for putting drivers' safety at risk by encouraging them to test its mapping services and record the results while behind the wheel.
"Baidu is inducing users to do a job that should be done by professionals," AutoNavi said in its post.
Later on the same day, Baidu's map division responded, saying that it placed great importance on testers' safety. "We d0 not agree with AutoNavi's claims that our users are unprofessional," Baidu Maps said on its Weibo account.
It added that only authentic user experiences, rather than test reports bought from "so-called professionals," can help Baidu truly improve its mapping services.
It was not the first time - and won't likely be the last - that the two companies got into a public spat, analysts said, as Baidu and Alibaba are battling each other in the field of mobile mapping, which is key for creating some promising online-to-offline (O2O) services.
At each other's throat
The competition between Baidu and AutoNavi dates back to August 28, 2013, when the two companies announced they would make their navigation services available for free. Baidu sweetened its deal by offering refunds to users who had previously paid for its service.
AutoNavi had intended to make its announcement on August 29, 2013, but had to release the news a day early after Baidu got the drop on it, media reports said at the time.
The stock price of AutoNavi, which Beijing-based market consultancy Analysys International reported led China's mobile mapping market in the second quarter of 2013, plummeted 20 percent in the morning trading on August 29, 2013.
In November 2015, AutoNavi claimed it had received many complaints from users saying that Baidu's search engine hindered them from downloading AutoNavi's mobile app.
AutoNavi had more than 500 million users as of January 2016, according to a statement on its Weibo account in February.
Baidu said in a press release sent to the Global Times on April 19 that its mapping service already had 500 million users.
Another Internet giant, Tencent Holdings, is also trying to break into China's mobile mapping industry. After AutoNavi introduced a feature in early 2015 that gave users timely notifications about their traffic violations, Tencent announced in September 2015 that it would offer the same service, with the added feature of allowing users to pay their traffic fines via its mobile app.
