Baidu Basics (6)
Why advertise on Baidu?
Baidu is the dominant search engine in China with over 70% of the market share. Other search engines, like Google and 360, attract nowhere near that level of traffic in China.
Are my goods/services OK to sell in China?
Certain industries receive more scrutiny than others, but, in general, as long as you can provide the proper documentation for your business, you can sell your goods/services in China.
Gambling and pornography are explicitly forbidden.
Can I set up a Baidu account if I do not have a Chinese business?
Yes. Where your business is based does not affect your application.
Should I advertise a website that is not in Chinese?
This is generally not a good idea. Even if your business is targeting English-speaking Chinese, most prefer a website with Chinese content. Also, in some situations, non-English speaking families and friends of your target audience may want to check out your site. We offer professional translation services if needed.
Do I need to host my site in China?
No. If your website is consistently accessible and fast loading within China, there is no need to host your site in China. We can test your site to ensure its speed is up to par.
Is advertising on Baidu a good way to reach Chinese speakers in countries outside of China?
Generally, no. Only a small percentage of web users outside of China use Baidu.
Baidu Account Setup (6)
What type of documentation do you require from us to set up an account?
In most cases, we only require a scan of the business’ certificate of incorporation. In some industries, we may also require additional certifications. Note: We require the original, untranslated version issued by your local government.
In cases where you have both a home business and a business in China, we require documentation for the home business.
Who owns the account?
You own the account that you open. We only have the right to manage it on your behalf (if you choose).
How does the account setup process work?
Please see the “How It Works” page.
How long does it take to set up an account on Baidu?
It takes approximately five working days.
Can I advertise multiple businesses with one Baidu account?
No, you can only advertise one business/website per account.
What does “verification” mean?
Baidu uses a “guarantee” system now, although it’s referred to as “verification” in Baidu’s back-end.Read more here.
We will take care of the advertiser account verification/guarantee setup. It doesn’t require any extra action on the advertiser’s part.
Advertising Options (4)
Can I display my company logo alongside my text ads?
Yes, if your ad ranks in the number one spot on the Baidu search engine results page for a keyword, you can display your company logo alongside the text ad. See the image below for an example:
What are Baidu’s display advertising formats?
Text Ad Formats
Here a text ad is shown displayed over a website image.
Text ads include one title line and two description lines.
- Title: Up to 14 Chinese characters or 28 characters.
- Description line one: Up to 20 Chinese characters or 40 characters. No less than eight characters.
- Description line two: Same as the first description line.
- Image add-on: 60 by 60 jpg or gif.
- URL: Up to 1024 characters.
- Display URL: Up to 35 characters.
Image Ad Formats
Image ads can be in jpg, gif or swf (Flash) format, and must be within 55 K.
Dimensions:
- Banners: 468×60, 728×90, 960×90, 960×60, 640×60, 460×60, 580×90, 760×90
- Rectangles: 250×250, 200×200, 336×280, 300×250, 360×300
- Vertical Banners: 120×600, 160×600
Floating Formats
These are image ads that show on the side of the page and move up and down as the user scrolls.
May be in jpg, gif or swf (Flash) format, and must be within 55 K.
Dimensions:
- 120×270
- 120×120
- 300×250, 250×200
Video Formats (贴片形式)
May be in jpg or swf (Flash) format, and must be within 55 K.
- Dimensions: 400×300
- Length: three to four seconds
- CPU usage (for Flash): Under 25%
Should I use search ads or display ads?
We generally stick to search ads when managing a PPC campaign but, in some cases, use display ads as well.
Can I create ads targeting mobile devices?
Yes. You can set up mobile landing pages. With 99% of the population in China using mobile phones to access the Internet, this is a necessary component in most PPC campaigns.
Baidu Account Management (7)
Can I see the ads and keywords to be used before they’re activated?
If you choose to have us manage the account for you, we will send you a list of keywords and ads for your approval. In general, we send a sample of ads and keywords and discuss the strategy with you. However, we can also create a full output of ads and keywords if you prefer.
Do we have access to the account?
You can log in at http://www2.baidu.com. Except for username and password, you also need a verification code or corresponding cellphone number. If you need the former, you can ask us for it from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (China time) on any working day.
Can I manage a Baidu account if I do not speak Chinese?
Even with prior PPC experience, managing a PPC account on Baidu will be very difficult for non-Chinese speakers. While an English version of Baidu’s account management interface is available, it is difficult to localize site content and keywords without native-level Chinese skills. It is certainly better to use a Chinese agency if possible. Read more here.
Do I pay before or after?
Our clients pay at the beginning of each month before services are rendered.
Does Baidu have an analytics platform? If so, how does it compare to Google Analytics?
Yes. Baidu’s analytics platform is called Baidu Tongji. Read more here.
Is Baidu’s account management interface in English?
Baidu’s online pay-per-click management interface is only in Chinese. However, their desktop account editor is in English and Chinese. You can read more about their interface here.
How can I add negative keywords?
You can follow the below three screenshots to add negative keywords via Baidu’s web browser interface.
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Jimuyu Landing Pages (7)
What is Jimuyu?
Jimuyu (基木鱼) is a new landing page solution developed by Baidu. So far, companies operating in healthcare, consumer goods, and logistics must already start using Jimuyu landing pages.
How does hosting work for Jimuyu Landing Pages?
These landing pages are hosted in China by Baidu on their own servers. This means improved loading speed compared to most foreign-hosted websites.
Do I need to obtain a license to host landing pages using Jimuyu?
You don’t need to obtain an ICP license to host landing pages on Jimuyu. Jimuyu has its own approval system, which is much faster than getting an ICP license.
Are there any maintenance fees associated with the landing pages?
Jimuyu landing pages are cloud-hosted by Baidu. At the time of writing, they are hosted for free. Maintenance fees are mainly associated with changes you wish to make on published pages.
Are the landing pages you create responsive?
The majority of online searches leading to landing pages happen on mobile, so our landing page templates follow a mobile-first approach. But we have desktop-ready pages as well.
Can I migrate my existing landing pages to Jimuyu?
Yes, but not directly. Jimuyu doesn’t offer custom HTML+CSS, and it only comes with a drag and drop interface. So, we need to look at your existing landing pages and imitate their style on Jimuyu separately.
Why Jimuyu? Can I not simply host landing pages on my Chinese website?
Landing pages in China used to be riddled with unrealistic claims and false information about a service or a product. Thus, in certain industries, Baidu has started to only allow Jimuyu landing pages to be targets of PPC campaigns. Currently, healthcare, consumer goods, and logistics businesses must use Jimuyu for their ads. Many more industries, including enterprise software, and business services, might follow suit in the upcoming months.