China has issued new regulations demanding search engines clearly identify paid search results, months after a terminally-ill cancer patient complained that he was misled by the giant search engine Baidu.
The Cyberspace Administration of China today announced the new regulations, which also ban search engines from showing subversive content and obscene information. Such prohibitions have been long in place.
It is the first time China explicitly regulates paid search results. The administration says search engines must review the qualifications of paying clients, clearly identify paid results, and limit the number of paid results on a web page.
Wei Zexi complained he was led to questionable and expensive cancer treatments after searching on Baidu. He later died.
