He searched for a cancer treatment and found what looked like a leading hospital. It was actually a paid advertisement, indistinguishable from a genuine search result, for a treatment abandoned by mainstream medicine years earlier.
Wei Zexi's Search
Wei Zexi, a 21-year-old computer science student and only child, was diagnosed with a rare cancer called synovial sarcoma. After failing to find effective treatment at major hospitals in several Chinese cities, he turned to Baidu, China's dominant search engine, and found a hospital recommending an "immunotherapy" treatment, which a doctor there claimed was developed in partnership with Stanford University and offered an 80 to 90 percent success rate, with a promised life expectancy of at least 20 more years.
An Abandoned Treatment
Wei's family borrowed money from relatives to pay for the treatment, spending more than 200,000 RMB. His condition worsened rapidly instead, spreading to his lungs within months. The specific immunotherapy technique offered had reportedly been abandoned in most of the world due to low clinical effectiveness, but continued to be marketed in China as cutting-edge.
His Death
Wei Zexi died on April 12, 2016, after his treatment was delayed by the ineffective therapy.
A National Scandal
Wei's case, which he had written about publicly online before his death, sparked significant public anger over Baidu's advertising practices. Critics, including many commentators online, argued that Baidu's search results blurred the line between paid advertising and genuine information, misleading vulnerable users searching for medical help. China's Cyberspace Administration launched a joint investigation into the case, ultimately concluding that the search engine's ranking system had influenced Wei's treatment decision, and calling for reforms addressing the outsized weight given to paid search placements and inadequate labeling of advertising content.
FAQ
Was Baidu criminally charged in connection with Wei Zexi's death?
Available information indicates a government regulatory investigation and recommended platform reforms, rather than criminal prosecution of the company; this should be confirmed before publishing.
What treatment did Wei Zexi receive?
An immunotherapy treatment that had largely been abandoned elsewhere due to low clinical effectiveness, marketed in China as a Stanford-affiliated breakthrough.
What changed as a result of this case?
Chinese regulators called for reforms to how search engines label paid advertising and weigh it in search rankings.