Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Detail) ¥ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015 Unit	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Unit	Dec. 31, 2016 CNY (¥) Unit	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥) Unit	Dec. 31, 2014 CNY (¥) Unit
Amortization Of Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]
Number of reporting units the company split Baidu reporting unit into	4	3	3	3	3
Impairment loss on intangible assets		$ 118,380	¥ 820	¥ 0	¥ 1,630
Amortization expense of intangible assets		$ 670,560,000	¥ 4,660,000	¥ 2,500,000	¥ 1,590,000

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16225-109274

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

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