A survey by a Chinese internet research firm has found that Google is losing market share to its Chinese rival, search engine Baidu, which apparently boosted its user base in Beijing in the last six months by 10.8 percentage points and now accounts for 52 percent there, reports the AP. Google share remained 33 percent, keeping its customer base steady as the overall market grew, according to the survey by the Beijing-based China Internet Network Information Center.

The survey found that, combined, Google and Baidu held 80 percent of the market in Beijing and Shanghai, and 75 percent in Guangzhou. The three cities account for most of Chinese internet use. Six months ago, Google held the largest market share in the three cities covered by the survey, according to CINIC.

Baidu has a 43.9 percent market share in Shanghai, compared with 38.2 percent for Google. In Guangzhou, Google's market share was 28.7 percent, Baidu's was 48 percent. Yahoo, meanwhile held only a 3.7 percent market share overall, with Chinese rivals Sohu.com and Sina Corp. claiming a 4.6 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.

Baidu's entertainment content, including MP3 downloads, is popular in China, while Google is most frequently visited for enterprise products, business opportunities, transportation services and travel searches, reports CNET. Google tends to attract high-end users who are well educated and have relatively high incomes; Baidu is favored by students, who account for a large part of China's search population, according to the report. Some 40-50 percent of Baidu users are students, the report said.

China's Internet population hit 103 million by June, second only to the United States, according to CNNIC. Google owns 2.6 percent of Baidu, which recently went public.