Various reports last week appeared to suggest that Baidu and Kingsoft will be combining their powers to take on Qihoo 360. It has been reported that Baidu are looking at purchasing a significant stake in the software company.

What has become increasingly apparent, is that Qihoo doesn’t seem to have many friends in the local industry right now. If the alliance between Baidu and Kingsoft does indeed materialise, it would be a combination of two of its biggest competitors.

Qihoo’s CEO, Zhou Hongyi, has described the prospect of the collaboration as “the biggest joke of the Chinese Internet” to show his clear disgust. He has also stated his wish for Baidu to compete with Qihoo “head-on and fairly”.

A further twist in this affair is that Qihoo has already begun a partnership with Google, which may or may not be described as fair play. Considering Google’s struggles with China’s authorities, the move probably won’t harm Baidu’s market share too much.