The South China Morning Post reported today that China has finally surpassed the US as the world's biggest Web market by users. Last year, China added 73 million new users, taking their total to 210 million. What is really interesting is what lies behind the numbers.

The article references data by Pearl Research that found that Baidu's lead over Google had a lot to do with its strength in entertainment and youth functions rather than simply relevant and precise search. It's a fact little appreciated outside of the East. In China, the Internet is mainly used for entertainment and on Baidu, copyright concerns aside, it is very easy to search and download MP3 tracks. A different Web indeed.