The Only Guide to Baidu PPC Marketing You’ll Need for 2025

Attract customers, increase website traffic, and raise the awareness of your brand in China – all with the power of Baidu pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. 

In this article, the Baidu advertising experts at Nanjing Marketing Group share their insights on the search engine market in China and Baidu’s role in it. We’ll be focusing on how 

• Baidu is structured and the role of ads, 
• to run successful Baidu PPC campaigns, and
• we turned unsuccessful Baidu campaigns around.

With China’s economy worth 18 trillion USD (about one-fifth of the total global GDP), it’s a huge market that global brands cannot afford to ignore.

The Chinese Search Engine Market

As you know, the Chinese market is quite different from the West, and their digital ecosystem is no exception. Google, Facebook, X, and other major online platforms are blocked, and in their place are a plethora of platforms and apps catering to the social, shopping, and daily needs of 1.4 billion people. 

Founded in 2000, Baidu quickly rose to popularity and is the largest search engine in China today with more than 50% market share and the nickname “Google of China.” Other major search engines for the Chinese market are Bing (about one-third market share), Haosou, YANDEX, Sogou, and Google (via VPN). 

With almost 700 million monthly active app users, Baidu is an attractive place for advertisers to market their domestic and international brands. In fact, brands spend a significant amount on advertising on Baidu, generating a whooping 13 billion USD in annual online marketing revenue for Baidu!

If you’re brand new to Baidu or you’d like a bit more background before getting into the advertising side of things, you can join Nanjing Marketing Group’s founder, Tait, on a video tour of China’s biggest search engine.

Problems that Baidu PPC Marketing Solves

Ranking high and standing out visibly on Baidu—organically and through paid ads—helps brands reach a Chinese audience already expressing a specific intent by searching for a certain term. For example, someone searching for “puppy training” might click on an ad for puppy training classes. 

Nevertheless, a few challenges may lie ahead for global brands. 

If they’re outside China, how do they get their brand known when the infamous “Great Firewall” stands between them and their intended audience? And even if their website loads without issues, do they understand local user preferences and habits?

Brands already active in China might have trouble getting Chinese people interested in their products or services; some may even struggle to close sales in China.

For this, Baidu is an ideal channel in China for global brands to

• raise brand awareness, 
• generate high-quality leads, 
• drive traffic (to website, app downloads, etc.), 
• increase sales, and 
• test the market with your product or service before entering it.

Keep in mind: Baidu’s user demographics are predominantly males (74%) below 35 years of age (71%).

Who Should (NOT) be on Baidu?

Marketing on Baidu is ideal to leverage the Chinese market if you know your playing field.

Company Type/Size

Given the massive Chinese online shopping market, B2C e-commerce brands (think fashion, beauty, luxury!) greatly benefit from an eye-catching appearance on Baidu. Besides, B2C service providers in the hospitality and education industry are high on the search list of Chinese netizens.

B2B companies can also benefit from a dominant presence on Baidu, particularly to generate leads, when focusing on specific and high-value keywords.

Since Baidu requires a certain budget and ad spend, larger and medium-sized businesses tend to benefit more from Baidu marketing compared to smaller brands. Likewise, brands with lower margins may find Baidu PPC costs ineffective.

However, the success of a campaign is individual and depends on the overall China marketing strategy, keyword selection, targeting precision, and effective evaluation and adjustment. 

For one of our clients, our Baidu ads weren’t initially successful until we figured out the right combination of these parameters. We will share the story a little later in the case study section. 

Restrictions/Bans

China’s strict advertising laws and regulatory standards limit or prohibit advertising in certain industries, including tobacco, gambling, financial investments, real estate, and a few more. Contact us to see if your specific products or services are restricted.

However, there still are options. With 15+ years of experience helping more than 300 Western businesses enter and expand in the Chinese market successfully, we have a trick or two up our sleeves (all legal, of course!). More on that to come in the same case study. 

Baidu PPC Ad Formats

Baidu PPC advertising comes in various formats and is displayed uniquely across the search engine results pages.

Baidu Ad Types & Pricing

While a Baidu official account is not mandatory, a Baidu advertising account is required to run ads, and this costs 600 RMB per year and requires an initial deposit of at least 5,000 RMB from which the ads are deducted.

Interestingly, Baidu offers more affordable pay-per-click starting rates than WeChat where engagement rates are overall higher. 

For Baidu, we generally recommend search ads (text only) as they are most effective based on our experience. Overall, the average return on ad spend (ROAS) of 400% is excellent on Baidu, which means that for every $1 spent on ads, brands can generate $4 in revenue.

Ad prices are always related to keywords, not ad formats. However, ad formats can affect the click-through rate (CTR) but not the cost per click (CPC).

Baidu Search Ads

Baidu Display Ads

Mobile Ads

Besides, there are additional ad formats on Baid – like Brand Zone and Baidu News Feed Ads—but these are not included in Baidu PPC.

Text ad on Baidu: search for “Study abroad in USA” (美国留学)

Image & Text-Link Ads: search for “English language training” (英语培训)

Multi-Text & Link Ads: search for “Study in the United States” (美国留学)

Video & Text Ads: search for “English language training” (英语培训)

Mobile Button Ads: search for “Photo retouching app” (修图软件)

Next, let’s look at how Baidu ads compare to Google ads. 

Baidu Ads vs. Google Ads

Although Google and Baidu use different algorithms, they share key metrics for organic rankings, such as relevance, mobile optimization, and quality backlinks. Both platforms also integrate ads that appear alongside organic search results.

The ad setup and management features on Google and Baidu are comparable. However, creating a Baidu PPC account is significantly more complex and time-intensive, especially for non-Chinese businesses, due to additional regulatory and verification requirements.

On both platforms, ads with long-tail and buyer-intent keywords tend to perform better, particularly with the increasing popularity of voice search in China. 

Baidu, however, stands out with its proprietary tool, Jimuyu (基木鱼), available through the Baidu PPC platform. This tool enables advertisers to build ad-specific landing pages that are approved faster, load more quickly, and help lower overall campaign costs.

Baidu SERPs

Like on Google, there are organic and paid results when searching on Baidu. What’s noticeable is that Baidu links to many of its own subsidiaries or companies like Baidu Baike and Zhihu.

To give you a better understanding, we will show you the Baidu results based on the example “English language training” (英语培训).

Main page

1. New Oriental（新东方） – image/text ad (verified) 
2. Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad
3. Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad (verified)
4. Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad (verified)
5. Jinbo Education (金博教育) – image/text ad (verified)
6. Hello Kid – organic search result (image/text)
7. Baidu Huilife (百度惠生活), Baidu owned platform of local businesses – organic search result (image/text) 
8. Gateway language village (平和村英语) – image/text ad (verified)
9. Organic search result (text)
10. Organic search result (text)
11. Organic search result (image/text)
12. Organic search result (image/text)
13. Organic search result (image/text)
14. Organic search result (text)
15. Organic search result (text)
16. Organic search result (image/text)
17. Related searches – organic search result

Side view

1. Related brands – organic search results
2. Related stock exchange (HK) – organic search results
3. Contact Baidu to place ads – organic search result

The blue “Baidu Guarantee” (保障) mark means that Baidu has checked the website, verified it, and gives a guarantee, which means you are refunded in the event of fraud. The text next to the blue mark means “ad” (广告), and shows users that the content is paid advertising.

Next, let’s examine specific examples and their stories.

Case Study: CISDRS

Earlier on, we talked about restricted and banned industries for advertising in China, including on Baidu. 

International debt collection agency CISDRS reached out to Nanjing Marketing Group in mid-2023 with the desire to enter the Chinese market. Understanding the local legal requirements, we created a marketing strategy compliant with the strict advertising laws in the country.

Our strategy for CISDRS

• Development and running of Baidu ads
• Creation of Chinese social media accounts, content development, and management: WeChat, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu

Our results (as of November 2024)

• 570 inquiries
• 77 qualified leads
• 14 conversions from the leads

Search results for CISDRS on Baidu

Let’s take a look at another example, where it took us a while to figure out what works best for a certain client.

Case Study: Bar Codes Talk

Since 2012, we have been running a comprehensive China marketing campaign for this international provider of certified barcodes – Bar Codes Talk. We helped them to enter the Chinese market and have continued to support them ever since. 

However, the beginning was not that easy! Some of our clients become profitable rapidly, but with Bar Codes Talk, it took longer than usual. 

Like many of our clients when they first approached us, Bar Codes Talk didn’t have any brand presence (and therefore consumer trust) in China, and this was reflected in the unimpressive results from the first two months (an ROI of -26%).

NMG experimented with the tactics and then the inquiries jumped. By the second year, Baidu ads were profitable, and this has continued. By monitoring our advertising efforts and testing different Baidu ad formats, we realized the website content needed to focus more on Chinese users and provide rapid customer support.

By addressing these actionable tasks, we managed to improve the results of the Baidu ads.

The impressive results (2012–2023):

• More than 60,000 inquiries (60,082)
• More than 41,000 transactions (41,592)
• More than 12,000 WeChat followers
• Up to 387% ROI

Example: Bar Codes Talk search on Baidu

Behind the Scenes: Baidu Ad A/B Testing

You may already have ideas or thoughts about the best time to run ads (we’d love to hear them; please leave a comment below!) but we performed a series of tests to determine the optimum time for Bar Codes Talk.

When is the best time to run ads for Bar Codes Talk on Baidu? 

Our tests revealed that the cost per action (CPA) is highest in the evenings (17:00–midnight) so we stopped running ads during the day (9:00–17:00) for Bar Codes Talk.

Which placement of display ads in the newsfeed is best for Bar Codes Talk on Baidu?

To be honest, none of the Baidu newsfeed ads yielded strong results, so we decided to stop them and transfer the remaining ad credit to regular Baidu campaigns.

Which ad format works best on Baidu for Bar Codes Talk?

We discovered that image ads work best for this client: simple, high-contrast visuals, with key selling points as text.

Our Takeaway for Ads Testing

We’ve only shown three examples here, but all are informed by our core company belief of “Explore, Discover, Create” which defines how we approach each new project.”

Each failed test may seem like a waste of resources and time, but every miss yields a new understanding of what works and what doesn’t.

For each successful test, we find new methods that can be utilized across many projects. But even when things work, we don’t leave it there: We are constantly testing, adapting, and sharing our findings with our clients.

Finally, before we wrap it up, let’s hear from our team their favorite tips for running successful Baidu ads.

Our Tips for Maximum PPC Results

These are our tried and tested strategies to separate successful campaigns from those that take a nosedive.

First and foremost, a localized website that loads quickly (less than two seconds!) is crucial to be successful in the Chinese market. This website or landing page is where the Baidu ads (or other ads in China) direct and convert the online user into a potential buyer. One way to improve the loading speed of a website is to host locally (in China), which is worth considering as loading speed is an important ranking factor of Baidu.

The ad itself should stand out, and text ads must be simple and on point with a clear CTA. It shouldn’t be too text-heavy either, so try to avoid overloading the image (and the reader) with information. Bright colors and a little text on images are generally a good call. Likewise, visuals should aim to catch the users’ attention while they are aimlessly scrolling.

Your content should be culturally appropriate and considerate of the preferences and needs of the users.

Finally, you need to test and improve the ads, which is something we do quite extensively to find the deal ROAS, reach, and engagement. This can take time but it is well worth it.

This brings us to the end of this overview of Baidu PPC ads, who can benefit, and how.

The Takeaway – Mastering Baidu PPC Marketing

When we create a China marketing strategy for global brands, we usually include content localization, Baidu ads, SEO, and WeChat marketing.

Furthermore, Chinese social media, e-commerce platforms, and marketing strategies like influencer collaborations are brand and budget-dependent.

We hope this article gave you a better understanding of the Chinese search engine market, what Baidu looks like, and how running ads on this crucial platform works.

While some agencies may only tell you about their best lighthouse projects, we don’t shy away from showing the process behind it: Testing what works and what doesn’t, and doing more of what does work. 

For those of you who want to get started ASAP, we have also compiled this practical Baidu SEM Checklist that guides you through the process step-by-step, including setting up a Baidu advertising account, and keyword research.

Do you have any questions or comments? Please feel free to contact us, we’d love to hear from you!