Dacheng Supports Baidu Credit Verification Initiative

A press conference was held by Baidu Inc. and China Consumers Association recently to launch the Baidu Credit Verification initiative designed to make online consumption safer.

Consumers cheated by Baidu-verified websites would receive full refund for their purchase, whether the websites are results of organic search or sponsored search. They could make a preliminary assessment on the reliability and risk of a shopping website by looking at whether it has a “V” mark.

Till January this year, Baidu credit verification has applied to all sponsored search results. It is now beefing up efforts to cover organic search results. Currently, about 3 million websites have been verified, accounting for 30% of all first-page search results. The initiative will expand to official websites of government agencies, media, schools, hospitals and public service organizations within this year, for which a fast-track solution will be created. For commercial institutions, Baidu will grant verifications on the basis of opinions of third-party verification agencies and netizens.

Last May, Baidu Inc. launched the world’s first-ever netizen rights guarantee program, for which a legal aid group composed of Dacheng attorneys Wang Jun and Yu Hui was built. The credit verification initiative is an upgrade to the program.