Baidu Shutting Down Weibo-like Service Talk Bar
Baidu yesterday announced it’s shutting down its “Weibo” service, t.baidu.com, by 22 August.
Baidu’s Weibo service “Shuo Ba” (or “Talk Bar” in English) started in September last year with a real-name system requiring all registration to be verified via a mobile phone and photos.
Having gained no popularity with its real-name system, Baidu made it optional this mid-May with more Weibo look. In the same month, Shuo Ba paused registration, verification and real-time trends.
Baidu has shut down the post publishing today and will completely close this service on August 22.
verified i Post Bar account
Baidu’s attempt competing in microblogging market started in 2009 with an update to its popular Post Bar service. Some Weibo features were added with a new service called “i Post Bar”, which was a bit confusing to users.
With the launch of “Talk Bar”, Baidu has made it more confusing (more to itself) as “Talk Bar” and “i Post Bar” share duplicate features.
Shutting down of “Talk Bar” is absolutely not the end for Baidu’s attempt into microblogs. “i Post Bar” does have a good prospect to compete with other Weibo service with a right strategy and twist.
