(Yicai Global) Dec. 19 -- Baidu, China's leading online search provider, is suing competitor Bytedance Technology for CNY1 million (USD143,000) on the grounds that one of Bytedance's apps interferes with search results. The case is the latest in a series of litigations the pair have pursued against each other.

Bytedance's news aggregator Toutiao displayed ads for affiliate video site Xigua when users searched for Baidu Video or Haokan Video, the Beijing-based plaintiff said in a lawsuit filed with Beijing Haidian Court. The court has accepted the case and published related documents today.

Baidu and Bytedance have been at loggerheads since the end of 2017, when the latter, which is also the owner of video-sharing app TikTok and was once the world's most valuable startup, also accused Baidu of anti-competitive behavior. They have since filed several suits against each other, including back-to-back cases submitted on the same day in April, where each sought CNY90 million (USD12.9 million) in compensation.

In these suits, Baidu accused Bytedance of stealing part of its search results display technology, while the revenge filing submitted just hours later said a Baidu-owned app was showing videos from TikTok without the appropriate watermark. There is no public information detailing progress in either of these two cases.
Baidu and Bytedance are vying for users and advertising revenues. Bytedance overtook Baidu in the digital advertising market in the first half of this year, according to a report just published by global consultancy R3. Bytedance pocketed 23 percent of all digital media spending in China. That was worth about CNY50 billion (USD7.1 billion), the report said. Baidu accounted for 17 percent, or CNY36.9 billion.

Editor: James Boynton