Baidu's ad-charged profits surge by 95 per cent

July 29, 2011

Baidu's profits surged by 95 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 thanks to increased display and search advertising revenues.

According to BBC News, Baidu's profits nearly doubled over the last financial quarter to rise from 837 million yuan to 1.63 billion yuan (£155 million). 

Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu, said the firm profited from increased traffic and ad spending. 

"We benefitted from strong traffic growth and improved monetisation," he said. "We were especially encouraged with the strong spending from large clients."

Number crunchers have tipped Baidu's revenues to increase even further, with Mayiresh Masurekar of analysts Collins Stewart explaining that Baidu's likely to profit from non-search ventures after securing licensing agreements with music labels and investing $306 million in online travel website Qunar. 

Li hinted that further non-search innovations could be in the works, saying: "I am confident that Baidu's emphasis on innovation and execution will help us continue to attract and retain customers and users."

News of Baidu's recent advertising success is widely expected to miff Mountain View's mad men, who have been unable to get a foothold in the lucrative Chinese search and advertising market after Google withdrew from China following a privacy spat with the Chinese government.

Baidu's search success is also set to further raise Google's ire as Baidu recently paired with Microsoft in a move that will see Redmond bring English-language search results to Baidu. 

As a result, Microsoft is likely to gain visibility and traction within the Chinese search market, giving the firm an opportunity to boost Bing over Google in what's known to be the world's biggest internet market. 

Source:  bigmouthmedia.com