China's Nasdaq-listed Internet giant, Baidu, announced an overhaul plan on Friday after it was accused of letting unlicensed medical products suppliers buy higher rankings.

"We have removed the key words of all four clients mentioned in the [China Central Television] report and have begun to double-check the licenses of all other hospitals and pharmacies on our client list," said Baidu chief excecutive officer Li Yanhong, also known as Robin Li.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Li said his company would take all unlicensed suppliers off its ranking.

"Baidu employees who are found to have been involved in the scandal will be penalized ... We have already fired people who helped fabricate documents for unlicensed suppliers," he said, without elaborating.

Li said Baidu would launch a new ad system as soon as possible to give more precise information to Internet browsers. The new system, "Phoenix Nest", was intended to better correlate and rank search results, he added.

CCTV reported on Nov. 15 that several patients visited hospitals or tried medicines that got high ranks in Baidu searches, often spending huge sums for ineffective treatments.

A Beijinger surnamed Li complained to CCTV he spent more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,430) at a top-ranking clinic listed at Baidu, but his lower abdominal pain persisted. He said he was later cured at the People's Hospital, one of the leading hospitals in Beijing, for just 100 yuan.

CCTV said the unlicensed clinic paid Baidu 16.56 yuan per click to get the top rank.

Baidu.com receives more than 100 million clicks daily.

Baidu employs 7,000 people and accounts for about 70 percent of China's search engine market. The scandal has driven its shares to a two-year low.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2008)