(Yicai Global) Oct. 9 -- A Beijing court recently issued an ordertocompetitorSogouto stop hijacking traffic from Chinese search engine giant BaiduafterSogoufailed tocomply with anearlierjudgment, local media reported.

Baidu has received repeatedcomplaints from users since 2014 that when they use Sogou's browser to accesstheBaidu-runlistingshao123 website on theirpersonal computer, the browser automaticallyredirectsthem to Sogou'ssearch page.Users werethus shanghaied to the Sogou websitedespitetheirexpresswish to access hao123. BaiduarguedSogou's behaviorviolatesthe principlesof fair competition and good faith, interfereswith users' experiencesand infringes Baidu'srights and interests, and thereforesued.

A court inBeijing'suniversity and high-techHaidiandistrict agreedafter a trial in 2015 that Sogou's hijacking constituted unfair competition and ordereditto immediatelyceasetheredirection, publicly apologize onitsofficial website, and compensate Baidu for financial losses of CNY500,000 (USD72,162). Sogou appealed.

Anappealscourt dismissedthe appeal and upheldthetrial court'sruling. Sogou did not stop hijackingBaidutraffic after the final judgment, however. The Haidiandistrictcourtthereforeissued acease and desist order againstSogou before the National Day holidaydirectingit to immediately end theredirecting,theGlobal Times reported yesterday.

Sogou has confirmed that it has received theinjunctionandstoppeditsunlawfulbehavior. It also filed amotion forreconsideration with thecourt, per the reports.

Baidu is the largest Chinese-languageinternet search engine, with revenues of CNY84.8 billion (USD12.2 billion)last year, 86 percent of which came from internet services. Sogou, owned by tech mammoth Sohu,is another majorChinesesearch service provider. It hadrevenue of USD900 millionlast year, USD800 million of whichcame from search services.Both companies are based in Beijing.

Editor: Ben Armour