Re:Exactly how did they get a copy of the DB? (Score 2, Informative)

I think you are misunderstanding how a Pinyin input works. But anyhow, it is rumored that Sohu had put in some "database finger prints" in their database. Which means, there are hard-coded patterns of Chinese characters that you wouldn't normally get by typing in corresponding English letters (i.e. Name of some Sohu employees). The mistake confirmed by Chinese users, is in fact a misspelling. A Chinese comedian's name, which should be spelled "feng gong" (two characters), can only be outputted by typing "ping gong" in both IME. I am going to try to explain why this is obviously a proof of "leveraging". Names of people and other stuff in Chinese, are mostly combinations of Chinese characters that have no logical or any connections. That means, by just using algorithms, names won't come up by just typing their corresponding pronunciation.