Baidu Basics…. (6)
I was reading an article that merely posed the question: “Can Google Gain Ground on Baidu?”
The benign and oft asked question then regressed into odd xenophobic commentary and a recanting of long traveled urban myths about the world’s #3 search engine Baidu (百度)…
Some of the feedback:
“I heard china were banning US based search engines (yahoo,msn,ask,google) in a politically driven move.”
–I think we should ban bad grammar in post-based nonsense. No, Google (New Motto: “Do a Little Evil“), Yahoo! and the others voluntarily censor themselves in pursuit of the almighty Yuan.
“Baidu’s PPC management tool is far less advanced than that of Google. However, they simply dominate the Chinese market. It would probably change as search marketing industry matures in China.”
–Another English major heard from….Actually, Baidu has a number of tools and programs that I prefer over Google. They can, and will, work side-by-side with companies to ensure maximum exposure. They are now opening up API access to distributors and analytics firms to ensure the best ROI.
“Baidu has only page rank of 7 i think the chinese just dont feel home in google. you forgot to mention google have a local version in china called SOSO.
“another factor is in china end users cannot manage their adwords account only by special adwords brokers appointed by google if every chinese would have made one link for me i was happy man ”
–The above mentioned blog has a diverse, albeit moderately literate, readership. First (or is it “firstly” Des?), Google ranks sites in countries relative to each other. Were Baidu in America it would likely be an 8-9. Anyway, Baidu’s Page rank (capital ‘P” ’cause it is named for the inventor, not the function) is not likely to affect its keywords in western searches. Secondly, SOSO (搜搜) belongs to the “QQ” people at Tencent (note: 搜，which in Mandarin sounds like the English word “so,” means “search” in Chinese). Thirdly, i too was happy if every one of the 230 million users in China would made one link for me.
“Surely google will deserves a position wherever it may be…”
–Insert your own punch line here______.
“You shouldn’t take Baidu’s dominance at full face value, remember that the Chinese government essentially turned google off a couple of years ago and redirected all traffic to baidu. In fact, on a recent visit to China a good friend of mine found it’s still happening intermittently. Not that he minds the free movie and mp3 downloads…”
–1. There is no Google master switch in president Hu’s office. 2. My friend thinks he gets lottery numbers from re-runs of It’s a Wonderful Life. 3. Baidu (百度) is now pursuing contracts with artists and companies and even branding legitimate mp3 players for musicians and advertisers. The Chinese invented noodles and fireworks and may have discovered America, but they did not come up with bit torrent. 4. Current data shows Baidu’s market share in China to be at about 60%. Baidu says that the 60% figure may be accurate for total searches done through a China-based portal, but Baidu claims a 70-75% share for queries originating from in-country. Google is running a distant second and Alibaba is limping in at 3rd. Tencent’s SOSO is an also ran…
“baidu is targetting Only China , but Googole is targetting all the world , so google will have all the previleges to be the n 1 in the world”
–Baidu, in a questionable moment of marketing sanity, just launched a Japanese search engine. “Googole” may be targeting the world, but it is missing the bullseye and shooting itself in the foot in Korea (ever heard of Naver?), China, Russia (Yandex) and other markets. In the David and Goliath wars, my money is on David with his home-field advantage.
Any savvy marketer, blogger or SEO provider needs to understand the mechanics of regional search. For starters:
- Use properly translated keywords in your tags and text. Baidu and Google.cn are more likely to pick you up.
- Submit your URL to Baidu at: http://www.baidu.com/search/url_submit.html
- Be wary of foreign based SEO players outside of China that do not have an on-the-ground presence in country, or purport to know the market while telling you things like, “Simplified Chinese will be sufficient to serve all markets.” A good SEO will optimize for the various ethnic groups and service or product targets you choose. China has 56 ethnic groups and a minimum of 6 distinct markets that can require special understanding and consideration.
- Get an authorized Baidu agent to place any ads for you. Do not buy from any company that claims Baidu has a set-up service fee. Ask for a copy of their contract with Baidu and access to your own control panel, even though it will be in Chinese.
A special Baidu Basics seminar will be held on-line March 6th and is free. Click on the banner above and head for the contact page and drop us a note. We will try and save you a spot and email you information. Whether you are a blogger, businessman, or SEO provider, there will be information on how you can successfully interface with Baidu on behalf of your clients.
Posted 3 February, 2008 in UK SEO EXPERT, SEO China Expert, 中文, Korea, Tencent, QQ, Yandex, Soso, seo expert services guangzhou china, alibaba.com, Chinese Media, Search Engine Marketing, Intercultural Issues, Asia, China Humor, China web 2.0, China Business, 中国, Seach engine Optimization, SEM, SEO, Chinese Internet, China SEO
Cultural SEO in China (3)
There is a new kid on the China SEO Block! Well, actually it is a group of old hands who have pooled their talent to create a powerfully needed new company: Culture Fish Media.
CultureFish Media personalizes their China-US business partnerships with emerging and established companies to create recipes for growth in new market media using language and approaches sensitive to local tastes. CFM is a talent trust of friends dedicated to introducing ethical and passionate ideas effectively and sensitively into any cultural medium through Cultural SEO (CSEO) and SEM.
Culture Fish came about after I trued to place a few ads for an Israeli firm with Baidu’s local office. After two months of diligent communication, in-house training from Baidu for me and a group of digital interns, and several face to face visits with the ad manager. Tracking statistics were off, communication in English was impossible, IT changes could not be effected by the regional office and the Guangzhou branch refused to give me the number of the International sales office–actually they said they hey did not have the number…Lost it I guess.
About the same time a Fortune 200 company emailed me and said that the had tried repeatedly to contact Baidu by email to no avail. Several months and 80 some phone calls later , by me and various native Chinese speakers, I landed a meeting with Baidu HQ in Beijing. I took a savvy interpreter with me. In America I would have gone to the confab with guns blazing, but my translator assured me that I was dealing with incredibly nice people and it turns out she was right.
In their modest offices I learned that Baidu was self-effacing about their ability to communicate in English and anxious to find ways to capture and maintain International traffic. And part of the problem was that western SEO firms had a long history of misrepresentations to the International office. They had lost faith in promises of culture hopping fortune seekers. Having 60% of the search market in China tend to make bets on unknown entities a second thought….
It has taken a lot of diligence, patience and sincerity to build a solid foundation with a company essential to the success of any marketing program for a western company looking for business in China. We plan on a long and mutually prosperous relationship with the good people of Baidu.
We have also secured many other solid connections like the one we are fostering with Madhouse, China’s leading mobile advertising group and Alibaba the world’s largest B2B portal. All of them have been a delight to work with and understand that we not only know the Chinese market, but the sub-markets inside of China, so we will create higher ROIs for clients and creaste higher return advertsing statistics for the service providers.
(We have also initiated contact with Tencent of QQ fame, but it may take a regional conference with the dozens of lieutenants in their decentralized command structure to get very far with Tencent.)
So, as a result: a new standard in digital advertising in and from China has opened for business: CultureFish Media has joined together the world-class talents of an artistic and tech-savvy team to create culturally sensitive SEO (CSEO), SEM,Branding and Identity Management, Social Media Marketing & Tracking, Content Creation and Management in multiple languages, Ad Campaign Management: Print, Film, Digital,Interactive and Conventional (PPC, Banner, RSS, CPM…) Marketing while providing cost saving analytic Reports and ROI Maximization for emerging and established companies.
CSO, a new approach in on line content management and advertising and involves: Culturally Sensitive and Appropriate Keyword Programs for Countries and Targeted Regional Campaigns, language specific writing and editing, native translation and foreign language content management like website translation services,
CultureFish, whose clients include pizza parlors, camera shops, vacation clubs universities such as Cal Poly and Fortune 500 concerns like Oracle, can: Design Logos, Banners, CSS, and Total Campaign Management including China Web Design and other International Set-up, Email Campaigns, Feed Management, PR Releases and Optimization and Interface and partnerships with country portals and ISPs like the above mentioned Baidu, Naver, Alibaba, and Madhouse. We count Sina.com as a bad investment as they are pretty busy spending Google investment monies to answer business development calls,
CultureFish (文化鱼), via its slogan, “如鱼得水” (Like a fish in water), implies skill and dexterity at a task. Our English slogan, “Making Digital Waves,” speaks to our use of sophisticated content management, cutting edge networking, interactive and visual media, paid ad campaigns, organic search empowerment and public relations to pursue excellence through new media that will best reach consumers in their native tongues. The team, together fluent in more than 10 languages, offers world class services to bloggers, SMEs and multinationals in any geographical region.
Each member of our diverse team, hailing from America, Canada, China, Israel, and Singapore, is ethically and socially bound to best practices in SEO/SEM, and all aspects of business. Some profits are set aside for environmental and humanitarian causes: The , Charity and Overseas Education site The Blog of Dreams, our digital internship program, the online Olympic Souvenir Store for shopping online in China are three such projects. CultureFish will always provide generous time and talent to nurture promise, especially in individuals or enterprises facing socially difficult challenges or, through our affiliation with the China Business Network, SMEs doing business in China and other important digital markets.
Some statistics that caused us to re-think and re-tool culturally targeted marketing in China: