Baidu.com, one of China's largest online search platforms, is currently recruiting technical staff to research and develop a new search tool for indexing millions of hours of movies.

While the company is tight-lipped about how it expects to market the eventual product to users, local media are more interested in what exactly can be searched in a movie. Will Baidu concentrate on searching dialogue? Or will the company focus on searching imagery and soundtracks? It is still unclear what type of product will be launched.

Also, with much controversy surrounding services like Napster and Kazaa, it may be difficult for Baidu to allow users access to copy-protected movies.