Qingfeng (清风) began as an algorithm against title deception and, from version 2.0, targets deceptive downloads. Baidu’s definition of a download site is broad: anything offering software, games, novels or video for download.
The three principles
- The site itself must provide genuinely available resources that meet the user’s need.
- Download resources and services must not be dead.
- No inducing users to download through content unrelated to the resource.
What “title” means here
Baidu is explicit that the algorithm judges the <title> element in the HTML, and requires consistency between the title, the description and what the page actually delivers. Where the download runs through a cloud drive or a download manager, that must be stated in the title.
The rulings from Baidu’s own Q&A — the most useful part
- Title says “download novel X”, body says “download our app to get novel X” — bundling is heavily harmful and the algorithm catches it.
- Title says “game download”, body offers a game accelerator — must be corrected; the accelerator has to be named in both title and body.
- Linking iOS software to the App Store — fine, no violation.
- Linking to a cloud drive — fine, provided what arrives matches the title.
- A pre-release game page with no download yet — permitted if the title says so and the page states the release date.
- A PC resource adapted to mobile where mobile users cannot download — the page must warn that the resource is PC-only.
- Requiring a QR-code follow before the download — change it. Offer the download directly; you may invite a follow afterwards, but never as a condition.
The principle underneath
Every ruling reduces to one test: does the page deliver what its title promised, without a toll on the way? Not the mechanism, not the host — the match between promise and delivery.
No self-check tool
Baidu confirmed there is no tool for this. Compliance is an editorial review of titles against what each page actually provides.
Cómo lo aplicamos
The QR-code ruling is the one that catches legitimate businesses: gating a download behind a social follow is standard growth practice in China and it is named here as a violation. We audit download-site clients by sampling titles and following each one through to what actually arrives — which is the only method available, since Baidu offers no tool for it.
Servicios relacionados