Baidu’s total revenues declined just 7% year-over-year in Q1 2020, resulting from its diversified revenue streams, including marketing services for wide-ranging industries, new AI businesses, and iQIYI.
Chinese Search Engine Market Trends and Insights
The revenues of Chinese search engine companies were estimated to reach 135.76 billion yuan (US$19.74 bn) in 2018, with an increase of 20.8% YoY.
China’s search engine companies revenue is estimated to reach 158.08 billion yuan (US$22.98 bn) in 2019 and 183.17 billion yuan (US$26.63 bn) next year.
The user base of mobile search in China grows to be near 685 million as of Q4 2018, an increase of 3.79% as compared with 660 million in the prior-year period.
Top Chinese Search Engines in China
The top Chinese search engines in China are Baidu search, Sogou, Qihoo 360, Shenma.
Google China's search engine is not accessible without a VPN. However, Bing is still accessible in China with both Chinese version and international version in English; some Chinese use Bing search to conduct global research.
Baidu remains the dominant search engine in China on both desktop and mobile devices with about 70-80% market share. It offers Google Ads (AdWords) similar SEM and display advertising opportunities. In recent years, newsfeed ads are driving its revenue growth.
Despite the lack of presence in the China market, Google is the preferred search engine among many Chinese. Over 70% would choose it over Baidu in an online surveys.
You can follow the link to visit the top Chinese search engines websites: Baidu, Sogou, Qihoo 360 search, Shenma (mobile search; JV by Alibaba and UCWeb).
Mobile Search. Smartphone built-in browsers are the first choice for most users (59.6% ) when they search for information on mobile devices. 28.2% of users tent to search for information on search engines installed on their mobile devices or tablet. More on mobile search segment here.
Popular Search Channels in China
In additional to traditional search engines, there are several other channels with popular search queries.
Shopping Searches
Many China internet users would directly visit online shopping and e-commerce websites and apps such as Taobao, Tmall, Jingdong, or Pinduoduo to search for product information.
Search engines like Baidu still account for some proportion of product searches. And, Baidu has launched e-commerce ads accordingly.
News Searches
In addition to Baidu, users conduct searches on WeChat and Weibo for trending news too. Weibo is often a place for breaking news; many users go to Weibo to look for trending information that is not yet in the mainstream news media. And the deep analysis on a topic is often available on WeChat.
Chinese search engine Sogou reported $31.6 million loss in Q1 2020
Sogou (NYSE: SOGO), China’s second-largest search engine, reported total revenues of $257.3 million, a 2% increase year-over-year, or a 5% increase in RMB terms according to its unaudited financial results.
China’s mobile search market overview 2020
The number of mobile search users grew to 705 million in 2019 in China, according to a Chinese research company iiMedia. Baidu has the largest market share reaching over 70% mobile users in China, followed by Shenma and Sogou. The actual spending on search advertisements in China was 1.13 times higher than the budget. Over […]
Education trends in China amid COVID-19; K12 demand fastest growth
During the period of epidemic, the Internet has become the main source for people to acquire knowledge. Over the 30-day period from mid-Feb to mid-March, the average number of daily searches for knowledge content related to education on Baidu is over 350 million, an increase of 86% year over year. K12 and foreign languages are […]
Sogou Mobile Keyboard DAU grew by 9% YoY to 464 million in Q4 2019
The daily active users of Sogou Mobile Keyboard grew by 9% YoY to 464 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. It processed up to 802 million daily voice requests, according to Sogou’s announced financial results.
Baidu highlights in Q4 2019; app DAU up 21% to 195M
Baidu App’s average daily active users (“DAUs”) reached 195 million, up 21% year over year, in December 2019. Baidu’s content network BJH publisher accounts for Baidu feed reached 2.6 million, up 38% year over year, in December 2019.
China second largest search engine Sogou revenues up 14% in Q3 2019
China’s second-largest search engine Sogou announced total revenues of $314.9 million in the third quarter, a 14% increase year-over-year, or a 17% increase in RMB terms.
China search engine users overview in Jun 2019; PC vs. Mobile
The number of search engine users reached 498 million on PC, down 2.4% YoY, and 528 million on mobile with an increase of 6.7% YoY, according to data from iResearch. The average time spent per user on search engines dropped to 9.12 minutes in June 2019 from 9.15 minutes in May 2019 and increased to […]
Baidu highlights for Q2 2019; voice queries up 7.5 fold
Baidu delivered a solid second quarter in 2019 with revenues reaching RMB 26.3 billion, growing 9% QoQ, and Baidu Core revenues growing 12% QoQ. In June, Baidu App DAUs reached 188 million, up 27% year over year, in-app search queries grew over 20% year over year and smart mini program MAUs reached 270 million, up […]
Sogou revenues up 1% in Q2 2019; Input app DAU grewed to 453 million
Chinese search engine Sogou’s search-related revenues totaled $276 million in Q2 2019, accounting for 91% of total revenues according to its announced financial results.
China search engine revenues to reach US$23 bn in 2019
The revenues of Chinese search engine companies were estimated to reach 135.76 billion yuan (US$19.74 bn) in 2018, with an increase of 20.8% YoY according to iResearch.
China online advertising to exceed US$90 bn in 2019, led by e-commerce, newsfeed, and search ads
China is to see internet advertising market exceed over US$90 billion by 2019, over 80% of which is from mobile advertising. The US$36.02 billion native advertising market accounted for nearly 50% of the total in 2018. Advertising has consolidated its position as an important source of revenue for internet businesses. This market is expected to […]
China internet users snapshot 2019
98.6% of internet users accessed the internet through mobile devices in China. Internet penetration in urban areas rose from 71% to 74.6%. The 10- to 39-year-olds represented 67.8% of all internet users in China. The largest user group were students (25.4%). 610 million users shopped online in 2018, 14.4% more than a year ago. And, […]
China mobile search market overview Q4 2018; 60% chose smartphone built-in browsers
The user base of mobile search in China grew by 3.79% year-on-year to 685 million in Q4 2018. Baidu was still the first choice for users searching for information (42.5% in proportion). Nearly 60% of users tent to choose smartphone built-in browsers across mobile devices. The user base of mobile search in China grows to […]
Baidu App DAU up by 24% to 161 million in 2018
DAUs of Baidu App increased by 24% year-on-year to 161 million. Baijiahao, or BJH accounts, Baidu’s content network, grew to 1.9 million publishers. MAUs of Baidu Smart Mini Program totaled 147 million, up by 30% sequentially. 98.5% of iQiyi’s subscribers were paying subscribers. DAUs of Haokan reached 19 million.