Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) quietly launched a new group buy site (t.baidu.com) offering deals across five categories -- Dining, Beauty, Leisure, Lifestyle, and Hotels and Travel -- but with a different focus than its first daily deals site (still accessible at�tuan.baidu.com). Currently, the site only offers deals from less than 10 businesses, and only ones in Beijing. According to web blogs today, Baidu may simply be testing�t.baidu.com�as a beta release before expanding the website elsewhere across China.
While tuan.baidu.com�seems to focus on Hotels and Travel, t.baidu.com�seems to focus on Dining, Beauty, and Lifestyle. Currently, none of the deals on�t.baidu.com�are travel offers.
According to Baidu insiders, the new daily deals site works under the company's Location-Based Services division. Moreover, online payments are handled through online banking systems, as Baidu has yet to develop partnerships with third-party payment platforms, and has not connected its own third-party payment tool, Baifubao, to the service.�
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