Chinese search market attracts foreign interest as Econsultancy readies its first guide to Baidu

With almost 80 percent of the Chinese search market, Baidu stands as a gatekeeper to the country’s consumers, and foreign marketers are quickly taking note of that fact. Digital marketing researcher Econsultancy has announced the upcoming release of its first best practice guide for the search engine.

The guide, which will be available next month, marks a minor milestone for Baidu, since it lends it a greater legitimacy on the world stage. Access to the guide will be limited to Econsultancy subscribers, or on a pay-per-view basis.

In addition to the Baidu report, the company is also hosting a marketing conference in Shanghai this week – Digital Cream Shanghai. CEO and co-founder Ashley Friedlein will keynote the event.

“The role of China’s market in digital and online giants such as Baidu are paramount to bringing over a billion Chinese consumers to the world stage of online marketing. Econsultancy can be helpful for both the growing number of local Chinese companies with international online ambitions, as well as western businesses seeking to expand into China by helping their people become smarter digital marketers,” Friedlein said.

Baidu isn’t content just to dominate the Chinese market. The company is planning an aggressive expansion overseas. CEO Robin Li, the second-richest man in China, has set a goal for Baidu to have the majority of its income come from outside of China by the year 2020.

Earlier this week, Baidu built out its position in Thailand with the 2.0 release of its PC Faster software as part of its effort to “contribute to the healthy development” of the country’s Internet environment. The company established a research center in Singapore this summer.

Not everything is peachy for the Chinese search giant, though, as recent concerns over a new player in the search industry has caused some fluctuation in Baidu’s stock price. Last week, shares of the company saw a significant single-day drop after an investment bank downgraded Baidu to an underperform rating.

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