According to Tech Cruch, Google (GOOG) has taken an equity position in new browser company Maxthon.

Google’s interest is not accident. Maxthon has over 80 million downloads with 50% being in China. "Maxthon-originated searches may account for up to 25% of total Baidu (BIDU) traffic, according to one source."

China is one of the few places where Google is not first in market share for search. It is well behind Baidu. Controlling activity at the browser level by installing its search features could help change that.

Douglas A. McIntyre