> Google copied baidu not the other way around

How so?

The founder of Baidu Robin Li published his RankDex paper in 1997, a year before Larry Page's PageRank in 1998. And Larry was clearly aware of RankDex when he founded Google.

Here's what Wikipedia says in its PageRank entry:

>A small search engine called "RankDex" from IDD Information Services designed by Robin Li was, since 1996, already exploring a similar strategy for site-scoring and page ranking.[16] The technology in RankDex would be patented by 1999[17] and used later when Li founded Baidu in China.[18][19] Li's work would be referenced by some of Larry Page's U.S. patents for his Google search methods.[20]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank#cite_ref-20

I don't think Google is a Baidu clone but in the cavalier way that people accuse other people of copying the timeline only supports Larry copying Robin Li.

Today I learned. Thanks.

They didn't. Google predates Baidu by two years. It's possible they could be talking about a specific technology, but not likely. Google had a Chinese subsidiary at one point in time, but stopped bothering as the government got in their way and assisted Baidu at every turn. Like with most situations where a foreign company competes with a Chinese one.

And that's before you get into the fact that China really doesn't want any foreign info-based companies operating in its borders, given their heavy propaganda machine. They'll tolerate it only until they can clone it and expel it.

Read my comment above, inform yourself.