BAIDU Inc's share in China's search engine market grew in the third quarter of this year, consolidating its leading position, while United States-based Google lost ground in the country, according to a latest industry report.

Baidu's market share grew to 72.9 percent from 70.8 percent in the second quarter, said iResearch in a report yesterday.

Meanwhile Google's market share fell to 24.6 percent in the second quarter from 27.3 percent three months ago on uncertainties over the restructuring of its distribution channels and the termination of distribution agreements with seven major advertising partners at the end of September.

Google confirmed that the contracts will be terminated on October 27 and said it will find new reseller partners to provide an even better service to advertisers.

Google Inc, owner of the world's most popular search engine, said China remains a very important market and there is "huge potential" for it to gain sales by helping small local companies with global marketing.

"The company would continue to provide the best products and services for users in China as in other markets," Google's Vice President John Liu made the comments at a technology conference in Beijing yesterday.

Revenue in China's search market rose 59 percent annually to 3.13 billion yuan (US$482 million) in the three months ended September, iResearch said.