Did Mr. Softy Just Become Relevant In Search Again?

This morning, news came out that Baidu Inc.

is going to use Microsoft's

Bing for some English-language results as Microsoft is trying to expand its share of the Chinese search market. With the largest population of Internet users on earth, China's search market is incredible lucrative, and Bing partnering with Baidu is a huge coup, and a huge blow against Google

, which was not even considered. As companies like Google, Yahoo

and Microsoft, have struggled to get any kind of traction in the Chinese Internet market, but this deal with Baidu could potentially drive significant traction, and thus revenue, for Mr. Softy in the years to come. Despite no financial details being released, this could potentially be lucrative for both Microsoft and Baidu, which has been talking about expanding abroad. Even with Google closing its Chinese search engine, it still holds 19.2% of the Chinese search market, as Chinese users can still access the Hong Kong site without censorship. Baidu has 75.8% of the market, and Bing has a fractional gain, but the deal with Baidu could help propel it from the "others" group according to Analysys International to third on the list. This very well could make Bing more relevant on a global scale, especially if the Chinese venture with Baidu proves to be profitable and successful. Expansion into other markets such as India, Brazil, and other countries could be the boost that Microsoft needs to get its struggling online division a boost. This may get such activist investors as

off the company's back for now, as the search engine business has been nothing short of a black-hole. This is an important first step, let's see if Microsoft can deliver on the results. Otherwise, the search continues.