1.The trinity that rules the Chinese internet is known colloquially as BAT.
2.Once roughly equals in status, Baidu is now falling behind.
3.While Alibaba and Tencent duel for dominance in digital payments and mobile commerce, Baidu has spent the past year putting out fires caused by its search engine.
4. Its third-quarter results today will shed light on the damage.
5.Already reeling from complaints over false advertisements, Baidu faced a storm of criticism when a young man died from cancer after using alternative treatments displayed prominently in its search results.
6.Regulators have since ordered it to monitor its ads more closely.
7.The firm says it is up to the task, and that the hit to revenues will be temporary.
8. It is also keen to tout its spending on innovation, from artificial intelligence to driverless cars.
9.But search is its core business: if that is ailing, everything else will suffer.
