China’s search engine sector has been thoroughly dissected in a comprehensive study conducted by CTR Market Research. Concurrently, the size of China’s internet user base has been growing, coupled with a gradual resurgence of search engine usage rates over the recent years. The research identified Baidu, 360 Search, and Sogou as the top three traditional search […]
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.
Baidu Reports Q1 2023 Results: Strong Revenue Growth and Generative AI Expansion
Baidu reported unaudited Q1 2023 financial results showcasing year-on-year revenue growth acceleration, leading to operating margin improvement.
WeChat Users & Platform Statistics 2023
In 2022, the total views of the original content on WeChat Channel (video account) increased by 350% year on year, and the scale of live broadcast increased by 300%, according to WeChat’s data released on 10 January 2023.
Tencent launched search ads on WeChat
The WeChat advertising team announced the launch of WeChat search advertising on 3 November 2023, which supports competitive promotion capabilities.
China online advertising market insights 2022
In 2022, 42.9% of advertisers in China expect to increase spending in digital marketing, 25 percentage points more than advertisers expect to reduce spending, according to CTR. China advertising market vs online ad market Advertisers of large enterprises with a budget of 500 million yuan or more are more confident in digital marketing spending. In […]
Top search trends in China in 2020
The most searched 10 keywords on Baidu related to technology in 2020 are mask facial recognition, quantum computing, virtual human, brain-computer interface, driverless taxi, industrial Internet of Things, cloud server, industrial intelligence, artificial neural networks, smart traffic lights.
Baidu won the bid for the largest domestic intelligent transportation project
Apollo intelligent travel technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Baidu Apollo, won the bid of “new infrastructure project of intelligent transportation for automatic driving and vehicle road coordination” in Guangzhou Development Zone, Huangpu District, Guangzhou.
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.
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; 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 […]
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.