China SEM - Sampi.co https://sampi.co/tag/china-sem/ Reach across the Great Wall Wed, 02 Apr 2025 10:25:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://sampi.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-Sampi-logo-large-32x32.png China SEM - Sampi.co https://sampi.co/tag/china-sem/ 32 32 Overview of Baidu PPC Advertising, Best Practices https://sampi.co/baidu-ppc-advertising/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=baidu-ppc-advertising https://sampi.co/baidu-ppc-advertising/#respond Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4624 Baidu PPC advertising is more effective targeting Chinese users with higher buying intent than any other marketing method. Learn more about Baidu PPC.

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As long as Baidu remains the largest search engine in China, Baidu PPC advertising should always be the first choice among pay-per-click campaigns for businesses looking to reach Chinese audience.

In general, the reason Baidu PPC advertising can be highly effective is the fact that users who are actively searching for something already have a buying intent. It means that they are more likely to convert, in other words to become the actual customers compared to those who are passively looking at ads or are still in the process of discovery of a specific product or service.

Baidu PPC advertising is, in principal, identical to Google’s equivalent, although there are several important differences to keep in mind. First of all, due to the fact that Chinese internet is tightly controlled and regulated by the government, opening a PPC account is, by far, more complicated process than with Google.

In contrast to Google AdWords account which is free and only asks for a Gmail account and a credit card, Baidu requires some serious paperwork, a fee and a deposit to get it going.

Currently, only legally registered companies, domestic or foreign, can advertise with Baidu. Obviously, opening Baidu PPC advertising account for a Chinese company is much easier than for a foreign one, it is also cheaper and faster. Overseas business entities are required to provide business registration certificate at the minimum and are often asked to submit additional documentation. This is why it is recommended to enlist a help of professionals who are experienced in dealing with Baidu on behalf of a foreign company.

Once the account has been registered and activated, it operates in a similar way with Google, although the back end interface is entirely in Chinese. In addition, the structure is significantly more confusing and takes some time getting used to. Once again, even if you are fluent in Chinese, it is always a good idea to outsource Baidu account management to someone who is well familiar with it instead of attempting to do it yourself.

Baidu PPC advertising with search ads

On the most basic level, there are two sections in Baidu account: search ads and display ads. Search ads are those that are displayed on search results pages in response to user query. In Baidu, they come in a few different formats.

The most basic format is a text ad complete with a title, two lines of description and URL at the bottom – quite similar to Google. There is also a verification level assigned to an ad which is designed to inform users on trustworthiness of a particular website and an advertiser.

Baidu PPC advertising with text

Some text ads can also include additional links to separate landing pages. By offering several options, such arrangement increases likelihood of that ad being clicked, although this format is more expensive.

Baidu PPC advertising with multiple links

Baidu brand zone

Baidu Brand Zone is another option that is most suitable for businesses looking to build brand awareness rather than achieve direct conversions. This type of ads typically include images, text and multiple links. Such ads are CPM (cost per mille/1000 impressions) based and therefore harder to measure. The price for such ads depends on their size and the position making the advertising in Baidu Brand Zone to be the most expensive type of Baidu marketing.

Baidu PPC advertising brand zone

Using images with Baidu PPC advertising

In general, in order to increase the CTR (click through rate) advertisers would try to include images in the ads whenever possible as well pack more links into an ad. Carefully designed text that fits well with dynamic keywords (those that show up in response to the relevant query) is another important factor to consider. This is where A/B split tests come handy and, fortunately, Baidu offers unlimited ways to test and fine tune the best performing combinations.

Baidu PPC advertising with image

Another good reason to include images with the ads is the fact that more users, especially on mobile, use pictures to search for products. Baidu’s picture matching algorithms continue improving offering more opportunities to display matching ads.

Baidu PPC advertising for mobile

Mobile search is another major area of Baidu strength where it holds even larger market share than on desktops. Optimizing ads for mobile involves setting up a call button that dials the number automatically by user simply tapping it from their phones. It works in both mobile browser and Baidu app.

Baidu PPC advertising mobile ads

If the business is particularly interested in reaching mobile users, it is worth investing in creating mobile friendly ads with suitable images and shorter, more concise text.

Baidu display ads

Display ads is the second major method to advertise with Baidu. It involves placing image ads (banners) at the most relevant sites that are part of vast Baidu ads display network. This is what is often called remarketing (or retargeting) – the ads are displayed based on a specific user’s history of visiting sites or searching for a particular term.

Technically, it is identical to a much larger Google’s ads display network, which, like many other things, has been copied by Baidu.
Both search ads and display ads are managed within the same Baidu PPC account sharing advertising budget that can be split between the two methods.

Baidu PPC account budget split

Typically, it is hard to predict in advance which PPC method would bring better results, therefore you should expect it to take some time to determine how to best allocate the budget between search and display ads.

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Basics of China Keyword Research: Qihoo Index https://sampi.co/qihoo-index-tutorial/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=qihoo-index-tutorial https://sampi.co/qihoo-index-tutorial/#respond Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4994 Qihoo (aka 360 Search) is the second most popular Chinese search engine after Baidu. Here is the tutorial on Qihoo Index, Chinese equivalent of Google's keyword planner

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Qihoo (360 Search) Index Tutorial

Qihoo, also known as 360Search and So.com, is the second largest Chinese search engine. By various estimates, it holds between 15 to 25% of the search market share and is fairly popular among younger users.

It is also often noted that Qihoo search results tend to be more accurate than Baidu’s and advertising with Qihoo is also a bit cheaper. Despite once posing a real threat to Baidu’s dominance, Qihoo is still trailing Baidu in terms of overall popularity.

Qihoo Index is the keyword research tool that can be used to complement Baidu’s. Also, it doesn’t require registering an account which makes it a bit easier. Other than that, the functionality and the type of data Qihoo Index generates is quite similar to Baidu Index which was covered earlier.

Here we are using the same keyword “iPhone8” to see the results. The first panel presents the total number of searches and the trends overtime. Just like with Baidu Index, the data can be displayed for the last 7, 30 or 90 days as well as for custom date ranges.

The top panel shows 5,340 searches for iPhone 8 over the last 30 days which is about 5 times less searches on Baidu for the same period.

Qihoo index tutorial

Similar to Baidu, Qihoo index indicates various kinks, peaks and valleys of the curve with a letter corresponding to a specific media mention. Hovering over those letters opens a pop-up with more details on the source linked to an article:

Another Qihoo Index graph specifically focuses on media mentions. Just like with Baidu, each change in the curve can be further examined for more details related to a specific news source.

Qihoo index tutorial

The graph above displays search activity in the last 24 hours. Quite predictably, the search reaches two of its peaks in the morning and afternoon with a dip in between (a lunch break?) before flattening out during the night hours.

Next diagram shows related keywords in key phrase surrounding the main keyword. Analogous to Baidu, the keywords are grouped based on search volumes and relevant position:

Qihoo index tutorial

Related searches data displays the keywords searched by users before or after that specific search term. In this case, “iPhone 8 price” was the strongest related key phrase. Also, users seem to be often searching for iPhone 8 pictures:

Qihoo index tutorial

Also like Baidu, Qihoo Index also shows geographic distribution of searches. It seems that most iPhone 8 related searches were coming from the richest Chinese provinces and cities which reflects traditional popularity of Apple products in those areas.

Qihoo index tutorial

Insights into audience are largely similar to the results we have seen with Baidu for the same term: men represent the majority (70% vs. 30%). The age brackets used by Qihoo are a bit different with Baidu: almost half of the people interested in iPhone 8 were aged between 25 and 34.

Qihoo index tutorial

Another dimension that is available only with Qihoo Index is classification of the users by attributes. Apparently, Qihoo uses other search terms attributed to the same user in order to build what is called “persona” in marketing. Learning more about customer profiles through this method can provide further useful insights for a marketer.

Continue to Weibo Index tutorial >>>

Here are our tutorials on China keyword research tools:

Keyword research on Baidu: Baidu Index

Keyword research on Qihoo: Qihoo Index

Keyword research on Weibo: Weibo Index

Keyword research on WeChat: WeChat Index

doing business in china online: the most comprehensive guide to digital marketing in china

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Basics of China Keyword Research: Baidu Index https://sampi.co/baidu-index-tutorial/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=baidu-index-tutorial https://sampi.co/baidu-index-tutorial/#respond Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4981 Performing keyword research in China is unthinkable without Baidu, the largest search engine. Here is the tutorial on Baidu Index, the local keyword planner

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Baidu Index Tutorial

Being the largest search engine in China, Baidu keyword research should be the one to start with. Currently, Baidu offers Baidu Index tool that is free for Baidu advertising accounts, offering some basic information to users.

Here is an example of searching for keyword “iPhone8” (most Chinese users would typically type in “iPhone8” without space between the two words).

Baidu Index

First, Baidu Index would match it with a keyword in the database before displaying the data. This means that for some rare keywords or those with low search volumes, this tool may not show any results. For those cases, a more powerful keyword research tool within Baidu advertising account must be used.

The top section shows the numbers for search volumes on PC (25,999) and mobile (20,070). It is remarkable to note that the overall search volume for this particular term is only 20% larger on PC vs. mobile.

Some points on the graph are also marked with letters: A, B, C, D etc. Those can be linked to a particular events such as mentions in media. Viewing the relevant content can give a researcher further insight on what was behind peaks and valleys of the chart.

Next, Baidu Index shows some more data on related keywords and how they are related to the original one in a key phrase (sometimes called long tail keyword). The size of the bubble illustrates the search volume and the color – the relative position.

Baidu Index Tutorial

Manipulating the slider allows viewing snapshots of the related keywords at different time periods. It can also help getting an idea on how the searches were changing over time.

The data is further detailed in the list of top related keywords that come before or after this specific keyword. This panel also lists the sites that have received most hits as a result of this keyword search:

Baidu index tutorial

Unsurprisingly, the most common key phrase was about the timing of iPhone 8 release.

Next graph specifically focuses on media mentions of the keyword. From here, user can view the actual article. This helps figuring out which type of news helped driving more searches and which had little to no effect.

Baidu Index Tutorial

The following series of data focuses on the audience. The map below illustrates search volume distribution by province. From here, the data can be further drilled down to the levels of area and city.

Baidu Index tutorial

Finally, the audience is broken down by age distribution and gender. According to Baidu, iPhone 8 was mostly searched by males between ages of 20 and 39.

Baidu index tutorial

Continue to Qihoo Index tutorial >>>

Here are our tutorials on China keyword research tools:

 

Keyword research on Baidu: Baidu Index

Keyword research on Qihoo: Qihoo Index

Keyword research on Weibo: Weibo Index

Keyword research on WeChat: WeChat Index

doing business in china online: the most comprehensive guide to digital marketing in china

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Basics of China Keyword Research: Measuring Search Trends https://sampi.co/basics-china-keyword-research/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=basics-china-keyword-research https://sampi.co/basics-china-keyword-research/#respond Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4973 Since the absence of Google, China keyword research must be done with the local equivalents. Learn how to use those tools for Baidu, Qihoo, Weibo & WeChat.

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One of the foundations of successful online strategy in any market is keyword research and China is no exception. Since the familiar tools such as Google keyword planner are irrelevant here, China keyword research must be done with the local equivalents.

All of the major Chinese search engines, as well social media platforms, offer some type of basic tools for China keyword research and trends measurement. The latest launch of WeChat Index feature holds a lot of promise. With nearly 890 million monthly active users, it has the potential to offer the most accurate picture of online searches. Unfortunately, it is still severely limited compared to the tools from Baidu, Qihoo and Weibo.

Another missing component in the overall China digital landscape is the absence of shopping trends measuring tool from Taobao, the largest ecommerce platform in China. After launching the beta of Taobao Index at the end of 2011, it was discontinued last year. Alibaba promises to relaunch a better tool in the future but it has already been a year since the original Taobao index went offline.

China keyword research - Taobao Index

The first tool we are going to look at is Baidu Index.

Continue to Baidu Index tutorial >>>

Here are our tutorials on China keyword research tools:

Keyword research on Baidu: Baidu Index

Keyword research on Qihoo: Qihoo Index

Keyword research on Weibo: Weibo Index

Keyword research on WeChat: WeChat Index

doing business in china online: the most comprehensive guide to digital marketing in china

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Choosing Between PPC vs. SEO for Chinese Market https://sampi.co/ppc-vs-seo-for-chinese-market/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ppc-vs-seo-for-chinese-market https://sampi.co/ppc-vs-seo-for-chinese-market/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4639 How to choose between investing in PPC vs. SEO for Chinese market? Which one delivers better results? Learn more on how to make the right decision.

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SEO and PPC are the two basic options for boosting traffic to your website. Choosing between PPC vs. SEO for Chinese market is often a difficult decision to make.

Up until the middle of 2016, Chinese PPC, especially with Baidu, was, on average, delivering better returns than SEO. This was due to several factors:

  • First, the search results, especially for popular terms, were dominated by paid ads. In some cases, hardly any organic results would be displayed in the first page;
  • Second, there was little visual distinction in Baidu between paid and organic results and most people couldn’t even tell the difference.

Things have changed significantly since the most recent scandal involving fraudulent Baidu medical ads that led to the death of young cancer sufferer. Following public outcry and negative publicity, Chinese government published new rules concerning Baidu advertising that, among other things, recommended limiting paid results to no more than 30% of SERP (search engine results pages).

Also, the new rules require ads to be more easily distinguishable from organic results in order to minimize the confusion between them.

Baidu, as well as other Chinese search engines, have announced their commitment to comply with the new rules (not that they had any choice in the matter anyway). Less advertising space has inevitably led to increased cost of PPC advertising which has made such campaigns more expensive than they could have been in the past.

On the positive side, the quality of ads is supposed to improve which may, at least in theory, increase trustworthiness of paid ads from a user standpoint.

How to choose between PPC vs. SEO for Chinese market

When it comes to SEO, organic results are now guaranteed to feature prominently in Chinese SERPs which makes SEO a more worthwhile investment than it would have been before the new rules were implemented.

On the other hand, you still need to consider different pros and cons of each strategy.

Choosing PPC vs. SEO for Chinese Market

One of the most important consideration is the time frame. Getting results from PPC is almost instant while building SEO traffic takes time. Typically, it would take somewhere between 3 to 6 months to start seeing some benefits from SEO and 9-12 months of consistent efforts to build a stable organic ranking to show up high enough in SERPs. If you can’t wait that long than PPC is probably the best route to choose.

In addition, since the feedback is fast and measurable, PPC is best at testing different keywords to see which ones work better. Tweaking SEO keywords takes much longer feedback loop.

Calculating which strategy would be more profitable also requires knowing LTV (life time value) of a customer. This figure can then be compared to the cost of acquiring that customer with either SEO or PPC. As a general rule, SEO tends to be a better fit for high volume, low LTV cases.

Another disadvantage of SEO for Chinese market compared to PPC that is worth mentioning is its sensitivity to Baidu algorithms changes. When that happens, an optimized site can lose ranking practically overnight which makes SEO an ongoing, hence expensive, effort.

Obviously PPC doesn’t have this weakness since you are paying Baidu for getting visitors bypassing their ranking algorithms.
On the other hand, organic results are generally considered to be more trustworthy and therefore are more likely to be clicked than the ads. Since now Chinese engines are required to implement more visual distinction between paid and organic results, visitors are becoming more aware of which is which and tend to favor organic ones.

Considering the above point, SEO for Chinese market seems to offer the better value in search marketing than PPC as a long term strategy. There is an exception however: if your niche is dominated by established players or authority sites that have been building their reputation for years, it is highly unlikely that you would be able to unseat them. However, if you employ PPC you still may be able to outbid them.
In conclusion, choosing between SEO and PPC requires answering three basic questions:

  • Can you afford waiting a few months for the results or time is of the essence?
  • How LTV of your customer stacks against the cost of their acquisition with either strategy?
  • How competitive is your space and whether you have a realistic chance to achieve high organic ranking vs. existing sites?

doing business in china online: the most comprehensive guide to digital marketing in china

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Overview of Advertising with Chinese Search Engines https://sampi.co/advertising-chinese-search-engines/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=advertising-chinese-search-engines https://sampi.co/advertising-chinese-search-engines/#respond Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4614 Chinese search engines market is mainly characterized by almost complete absence of Google. Here are the options for SEM in China with Baidu and others.

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China is one of only three major markets where Google is not a dominant search engine. The other two markets are Russia where Yandex holds the commanding market and Korea with Naver being the most popular choice. Currently, Baidu is the most popular among Chinese search engines with market share somewhere between 75% and 85% according to various estimates.

Moreover, Baidu is also the leading choice for searches on mobile devices, the increasingly important Chinese search engines market. In June 2016, it was reported that Baidu had 667 million monthly active users (MAU) just for that month alone.

Baidu is still the leader of Chinese search engines market

The entire Chinese search engines market has been growing at fairly steady rate since 2010, adding each year somewhere between 50 and 70 million new users. This year, it is estimated to have reached about 600 million regular users, about 3 quarters of which go to Baidu as their service of choice.

In many ways, Baidu has been following, if not copying, Google’s business strategy. It has diversified its business into areas that are identical to Google’s: from navigation and self-driving cars to AI (artificial intelligence) and VR (virtual reality).

Chinese Search Engines

Although, it did hit a few bumps on the road, such as recent scandals with its medical ads and illegal promotions of gambling sites, it is hard to imagine Baidu being knocked off its primary position among Chinese search engines any time soon.

The other Chinese search engines that are worth mentioning are Qihoo (aka Search360) and Sogou. Qihoo in particular has been growing relatively fast in recent years and was the only one that was ever in a position to somewhat threaten Baidu’s dominance in Chinese search engines market, although it is no longer the case.

Chinese Search Engines

When it comes to advertising, Baidu should always be considered as the first choice, mainly because of its largest reach. On average, Baidu CPC (cost per click) tends to be higher than Google across almost all industries. Most likely, it will continue to increase as Baidu has been experiencing fall in profits and will probably increase prices as time goes by.

Another reason to focus on Baidu is the fact that its technology is the most advanced. This ultimately affects advertisement CTR (click through rate) through higher relevancy with the search terms.

Baidu has also been active in the video market and currently owns one of the largest online video hosting platforms called iQiYi. As videos are quickly becoming one of the most popular types of content consumed online, Baidu is in a good position to take advantage of that market as well.

In addition, Baidu, like Google, is very good at remarketing which is built into its display network with over 600,000 partner websites in China. Managing both search ads and display ads is done within the same Baidu advertising account where user can simply split the budget between the two channels.

One of the biggest hustles associated with Baidu PPC is opening the advertising account. Unless your company has Chinese business registration, applying for Baidu account involves quite a bit of paperwork and a long verification process. Baidu would typically request translated version of your foreign business license and may require additional proof of incorporation. Companies in financial and medical fields would most certainly be scrutinized more carefully and multiple requests for additional licenses are quite common.

Verification of a website (which must be in Chinese) often leads to more requests to change certain sections (most commonly “about us” part). All this is aimed at making sure that the advertiser is not misrepresenting its business nature and is a legitimate company which will not become involved in promoting anything illegal.

This process is in sharp contrast with Google’s where anyone with a Gmail and a credit card can open an account and start running campaigns almost immediately.

Chinese Search Engines

The situation is not that much different with the other Chinese search engines such as Qihoo and Sogou. They also require business registration and licenses from foreign applicants and must follow similar verification process. Once approved, running PPC campaign with those engines is quite similar to Baidu. On the positive side, for businesses that are not in very competitive niches, CPC on Qihoo and Sogou can be substantially lower compared to Baidu. Therefore, it is a good idea to try those engines as well in parallel, although not instead of, Baidu.

 
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China Marketing Alternatives: 360 Search SEM https://sampi.co/china-marketing-360-search-sem/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=china-marketing-360-search-sem https://sampi.co/china-marketing-360-search-sem/#respond Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=5349 360 Search SEM is a powerful alternative to Baidu. Here is how 2nd largest Chinese search engine can become an effective tool for China marketing strategy.

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Being the second largest search engine in China, 360 Search is a powerful alternative to Baidu. In fact, 360 Search SEM can become a very effective tool for China marketing strategy.

When considering China SEM strategy, Baidu is usually the one that gets most attention from marketers. It is primarily due to its larger reach – by different accounts, Baidu holds between 60 to 70% of China search engine market. On the other hand, Baidu doesn’t enjoy the same type of dominance as Google does in the West. It is also becoming more difficult every year for Baidu to maintain its lead as it has to fight off increasingly aggressive and sophisticated competitors.

One such powerful competitor is 360 Search which has been a solid number two in the market for the last few years. By different estimates, it currently holds 25-30% of Chinese search engine market share. Its main search so.com, is the 4th most visited website in China (after baidu.com, qq.com and taobao.com).

360 Search covers about two thirds of all Chinese internet users and claims to develop its own unique ranking algorithms. It is also the first Chinese search engine to offer online fraud compensation.

Search engine is not the only product of 360 Search. The company also owns several popular internet properties such as 360 directory – the most visited portal in China, China’s number one Android app store, China’s second most popular internet browser and the most popular anti-virus program.

360 Search SEM and products

It also produces its own mobile phone brand, car accessories as well as various electronic devices ranging from security cameras to smart watches.

Why 360 Search SEM can be an effective addition to China marketer’s toolbox?

First of all, in general, 360 Search keyword bidding price tends to be considerably lower than Baidu’s. It is not unusual to see 360 Search bidding price to be half of that of Baidu’s for the same keyword.

Second, marketers report that, on average, the conversion rate is about 15% higher with 360 Search vs. Baidu. This fact alone is a good enough reason to include 360 Search in the overall marketing strategy alongside, or sometimes, instead of, Baidu.

Third reason why some marketers may favor 360 Search SEM is the fact that it is easier for a foreign company to register an advertiser’s account with this search engine compared to Baidu. Although, all Chinese search engines have to follow the same rules set by China’s internet authorities and require similar paperwork, processing of an application with 360 Search is often faster and more straightforward.

When it comes to initial costs, 360 Search and Baidu also differ significantly. Unlike Baidu, 360 Search doesn’t charge account setup fee. However, the initial ad spend deposit requirement is higher compared to Baidu: it is currently set to minimum RMB 30,000 vs. Baidu’s 5,000 (it is negotiable in some cases). On the other hand, there is no time limit on how long it should take to spend that budget on the ads.

Finally, the campaign management backend is also somewhat easier to navigate compared to Baidu’s (although both are only available in Chinese).

In subsequent posts, we are going to take a closer look at different 360 Search marketing options.

Interested in reaching millions of Chinese with 360 Search SEM?

We can help!

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China Marketing Alternative: 360 Search PPC Campaign https://sampi.co/china-marketing-360-search-ppc-campaign/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=china-marketing-360-search-ppc-campaign https://sampi.co/china-marketing-360-search-ppc-campaign/#respond Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=5360 Baidu isn't the only choice for China SEM. Thanks to lower CPC, 360 Search PPC campaign offers a cost-effective alternative for China marketers.

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Baidu PPC doesn’t have to be the only China SEM option. Thanks to lower CPC and higher conversion rate, 360 Search PPC campaign offers a cost-effective alternative for China marketers.

360 Search stats:

    • Founded in 2006
    • 5000+ employees
    • Within top 5 China internet companies
    • 529 million PC monthly active users
    • 1 billion mobile installations
    • China’s #2 search engine
    • China’s #1 directory portal
    • China’s #1 anti-virus program
    • China’s #1 Android app store
    • China’s #2 web browser

360 Search PPC options

Despite holding a smaller search engine market share compared to Baidu, 360 Search PPC can often be a more cost effective option thanks to considerably lower keywords bidding price. The bids for identical keywords are often as low as half of Baidu’s which gives marketers more mileage on a given budget by running 360 Search PPC campaign vs. Baidu.

Although Baidu is still the largest search engine, it is nowhere near Google style market dominance in western market, accounting for somewhere between 60 to 70% of the market.

360 Search market share takes the major part of what is left plus there is around 16% user overlap between the two search engines. Also, 360 Search is often considered a bit more “hip” compared to Baidu and, as a results, tends to attract younger and well educated user base with more purchasing power. This also explains the fact that, on average, 360 Search PPC campaign conversion rate is about 15% higher than Baidu’s.

360 Search user stats

  • 38% – bachelor’s degree or higher
  • 55% – medium or high income
  • 69% – 19 to 34 years old
  • 47%/53% – women/men ratio

In addition to search ads, 360 Search also offers its own display network where text or banner ads are served on relevant sites and apps. Display network marketing is an effective re-marketing (re-targeting) tool and is designed to serve ads to users who have already visited a specific sites, have run similar searches or have purchased certain products.

Based on ad settings, 60 Search PPC results can be displayed in two formats: as site links with thumbnails (2-比翼) or text links (1-搜索文字链):

360 Search PPC

When users search for physical products, the results can also be displayed as product links using 360 Search PPC option called “fengwu” (3-凤舞):

360 Search PPC options

When it comes to results display, 360 Search offers additional options similar to Baidu brand zone: brand express (4-品牌直达), brand sunrise (5-品牌日出) and premium zone (6-品牌甄选):

360 Search PPC campaign

360 Search display network allows effective remarketing to users who have either visited a site or searched for a similar term. It is typically done by placing ad banners on relevant site like shown below (7-横幅):

360 Search PPC remarketing

Interested in reaching millions of Chinese with 360 Search SEM?

We can help!

doing business in china online: the most comprehensive guide to digital marketing in china

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5 Ways Baidu Scandal Is Going To Affect Marketers in China https://sampi.co/baidu-scandal-effect-china-marketers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=baidu-scandal-effect-china-marketers https://sampi.co/baidu-scandal-effect-china-marketers/#respond Wed, 11 May 2016 00:00:56 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=4373 There are 5 ways in which recent Baidu scandal is going to affect marketers who rely on the search engine to promote brands and products in China.

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Most recent Baidu scandal following the death of 21 years old Chinese student is going to have both short and long term effects on marketers who rely on the search engine to promote brands and products.

21-year-old student Wei Zexi, who was diagnosed with rare form of cancer in 2014, had died on 12 April following a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful treatment that he found online through Baidu search. Before his death, Wei publicly criticized Baidu for selling search listings for medical information to the highest bidder misleading him and his family of the treatment’s effectiveness. 

Early this week, Cyberspace Administration of China has published a statement saying that Baidu’s search results appeared to have “had an impact” on student Wei’s choice of treatment calling on the company to overhaul its practices.

Baidu responded by saying that it would “implement all the changes demanded by investigators, and deeply reflect on its shortcomings”. It has already removed all paid advertisement for “cancer treatment” (“癌症治疗”) and related searches showing only news and organic results.

Here are the 5 ways Baidu scandal is going to affect marketers in China

 

#1: It is likely that the new account approval process will be taking longer and may require more supporting documents. All medical ads will certainly come under more scrutiny and the effect may spill over to the related fields such as health food and supplements, medications and general health care providers. Ads from medical institutions not approved by the government would probably be rejected outright.


#2: Regulators already demand more visual distinction for Baidu paid ads vs. organic results. Currently, it is often hard to tell the difference as ads are indicated only by a word “advertisement” (推广) at the bottom. Baidu is likely to follow Google in the way paid results are shown. This is how it currently looks on Baidu vs. Google:
Baidu scandal paid search results vs. Google


#3: Critics point out that Baidu mostly ranks ads based on a particular advertiser spending level rather than ads quality and credibility. Although, Baidu quality score includes several factors, spending is probably the biggest one. Following the scandal, now Baidu promises to rank ads based on credibility, although who and how is going to determine that is much less clear.


#4: Another demand from the regulators is related to how much paid ads vs. organic results should occupy the first results page. Often times and for popular terms, Baidu first page is almost entirely populated by the paid results. This resulted in marketers seeing better ROI from Baidu PPC campaigns vs. investing in SEO. Now, Baidu is urged to limit paid search results to only about 30% of the page real estate with the rest going to organic results. This will probably make investment in Baidu SEO a more productive strategy than it used to be.


#5: Cost of Baidu pay-per-click is already higher than Google across almost all the industries and is now likely to increase further. Medical ads provided 20-30% of Baidu search revenues and the company will probably try to make up for the shortfall – their shares already fell by 5% this week following this  recent Baidu scandal. Also, bids are bound to increase as more advertisers will  now be competing for less available space on each search page (see above).

 

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Baidu Ads with PPC – Tutorial, Part II: Baidu Ad Campaign Setup https://sampi.co/baidu-ads-with-ppc-tutorial-part-ii-baidu-ad-campaign-setup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=baidu-ads-with-ppc-tutorial-part-ii-baidu-ad-campaign-setup Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:00:15 +0000 http://sampi.co/?p=3426 This is the second part of Baidu PPC tutorial. Here we are going to cover some basic settings of Baidu ads campaign. In the first part of the tutorial, we have discussed Baidu PPC keywords tool and explained how it works. Baidu ads PPC: setup the ad campaign Here is the main quick management panel of your […]

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This is the second part of Baidu PPC tutorial. Here we are going to cover some basic settings of Baidu ads campaign. In the first part of the tutorial, we have discussed Baidu PPC keywords tool and explained how it works.

Baidu ads PPC: setup the ad campaign

Here is the main quick management panel of your Baidu ads PPC account:

Baidu PPC tutorial quick management

The first important parameter of the campaign is the geography. Here you can set the locations where your Baidu ads should be displayed. Go to the second tab from the left (highlighted) to get to that menu:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign geography

Next, click on the highlighted link in the second row:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign geography setup

This will bring up the list of available Chinese locales. Choosing the left radio button will display your ads in every location. If you need a more granular approach (which we always recommend), check the right radio button that shows provinces and major cities to choose from:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign-geography setup provinces cities

 

Next important parameter is the budget setup. It can be accessed from the same menu here:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign how to set budget

The budget can be set daily or weekly. It’s important to make sure not to leave it on the default settings of “unlimited budget”:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign budget setup
Another good practice is to setup A/B split tests in order to figure out which combination of headline and ad copy produces higher click-through rate (CTR). Here is where it is done in Baidu ads:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign AB test

Finally, clicking the gear icon will bring you to more settings where you can activate Baidu ads display network. It works similar to Google ads display network that enables your ads to be displayed on participating sites. This concept is known as re-marketing and it enables bringing relevant ads in front if users who have shown their interest in similar offers in the past.

Here is what you should check in order to enable this powerful capability with your Baidu ads:

Baidu PPC tutorial ad campaign display network setup


Stay tuned for more upcoming tutorials on Baidu ads PPC account and setup.

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