Regulators are investigating stealth banner ads for online gambling¹ that show up only at night on Chinese search engine Baidu, in the second advertising² scandal this year to engulf³ China’s alternative to Google.

监管部门正在调查只有晚上才会在中国搜索引擎百度(Baidu)上出现的有关在线赌博的神秘横幅广告。这是今年席卷这家中国版谷歌(Google)的第二起广告丑闻。

The Beijing News alleged⁴ online gambling sites would register corporate⁵ accounts on Baidu through third-party advertising agencies, spoofing real companies that did not hold accounts with the search engine. They would then post ads that would appear only at night.

新京报》(The Beijing News)称，在线赌博网站会通过第三方广告公司在百度上注册企业账号，伪装成从未在百度注册账户的真实公司。之后，它们会投放只在夜间出现的广告。

The Cyber Administration of China said it would investigate the matter and publish its findings “in due course”. In May, regulators vowed⁶ to crack down on misleading medical advertisements, in a case also involving Baidu.

中国国家互联网信息办公室（“网信办”）称，将对此事进行调查并“在适当的时侯”公布调查结果。5月，监管部门曾誓言打击具有误导性的医疗广告，该案件也涉及百度。

Baidu, which said it had reported the latest case to police, acknowledged loopholes in its systems. “Baidu’s anti-cheating system still has deficiencies. As a next step, we will strengthen the accuracy and coverage⁷ of the system and combat illegal information with full force,” executive marketing⁸ director Gu Guodong told a press conference this week.

百度称已经将此事报警，并承认其系统存在漏洞。“百度在反作弊体系中仍存在不完善之处，下一步，我们将进一步加强识别体系的识别精度和覆盖度，全力打击处理非法内容，”百度大市场体系执行总监顾国栋本周在记者会上表示。

It has been a difficult week for the company, which also faces US shareholders⁹’ displeasure at a proposed buyout of its online video portal by its founder¹⁰ Robin¹¹ Li.

本周对百度来说是艰难的一周，同时还在其创始人李彦宏(Robin Li)提出收购其在线视频门户网站一事上，面对美国股东的不满。

New York-based investment firm Acacia Partners, which owns just less than 1 per cent of the Nasdaq-listed company, has written to Mr Li, who is chairman and chief executive of Baidu. Its letter says his proposed $2.8bn purchase of the group’s 80 per cent stake in iQiyi would be “against the best long-term interest of Baidu and its shareholders” and “a grave mistake”.

纽约投资公司Acacia Partners持有这家纳斯达克上市企业略低于1%的股份。该公司致函百度董事长兼首席执行官李彦宏，称他提出的以28亿美元收购百度在爱奇艺(iQiyi)所持80%股份“不符合百度及其股东的最佳长期利益”，并且是“一个严重错误”。

Baidu has come under pressure as customers switch away from personal computers to smartphones, increasingly accessing the internet through mobile devices and social networking apps rather than search engines. It has been selling off some investments in the fast-growing but lossmaking online travel and online video sectors¹². In February, Mr Li made a non-binding offer for iQiyi. At the time, Baidu said it had set up a committee made up of three independent directors to assess the proposal, which valued the internet video site at about $2.8bn.

随着消费者从个人电脑转向智能手机，人们开始越来越多地从移动设备和社交网络App（而非使用搜索引擎）使用互联网，百度日益承受压力。它近来出售了在快速增长但往往亏损的在线旅游和在线视频板块的一些投资。2月，李彦宏发出对爱奇艺的非约束性要约。当时，百度称已经成立了一个由3名独立董事组成的委员会对该要约进行评估。该提议对这家互联网视频网站的估值约为28亿美元。

In April, Baidu came under fire for the placement of ads linked to a network of hospitals.

4月，百度因投放与一家医院体系有关的广告而受到抨击。