Paid search keeps its market share while image ads declined

Image ad, which accounted for 45.3% of Chinese online advertising market is the main online ad form in Q3 2007, while paid search ranks the second, keeping its share. Image ads and paid search occupy 72.5% of the market, while text link ads, rich media ads, classified ads, email ads and video ads remains relatively low market share. According to iResearch, market share of image ads will decline and paid search¡¯s market share will increase next year. The gap between the two leading ad forms will be narrowed and their leadership will not be threatened in short term.

Since Q1 2006, market share of image ads, text link ads and classified ads trends to be decline while market share of paid search and rich media ads trends to be increase. In Q3 2007, YOY growth rate for Baidu and Google, the two main search engine in China, are both over 100%, becoming a bright spot in China online advertising market. YOY growth rate for three brand advertising based portals, Tencent, Sina and Sohu, were stable at 80%, 30% and 20%.