Baidu seeks to cooperate with CIC data

The phone rang. Joyce, our receptionist answered. It was Baidu calling. They told Joyce they were seeking to "cooperate" (合作) with CIC data. "Ehhhxcellent," I said to myself in my best Mr. Burns voice, rubbing my hands together. The Google of China" was a-knocking, wanting to invest in our company. I asked my partner Vennie to discuss with the gentleman on the phone (being from China, her Chinese is much better than mine) how we might work together.

Baidu's cooperation involved us purchasing Baidu's version of Adwords. Hmmm....

Vennie: So this is not "free" cooperation?

Baidu rep: No, it is not, you need to pay," Baidu boy answered.

Vennie: Ohh....I see. I think we are more interested in the free type of cooperation. Is that possible?

Baidu rep: Yes, but you will need to wait.

Vennie: I see, how long do we need to wait?

Baidu rep: You should wait until pies rain down from the sky! (天上掉馅饼)

Vennie: Well, then...we'll be waiting.

Such professionals, those Baidu reps. I do have to hand it to them for finding us though. The rep got said they got our phone number from the Internet Content Provider License (ICP) burea with whom we registered only 1 week ago. Clearly Baidu has a network set up to sell their services the old fashion way: cold calling. Will Google need to follow?