It seems that everyone loves to talk about how to get advertising approved on Facebook and how exactly Google Adsense might still work for affiliates. If you look out at all the gurus programs, they seem to spend an unusual amount of time on these two platforms – but ignore one platform that I never hear anyone talk about.
This is the #2 search engine in the world, that has a worth of over $50B depending on its stock price.
That would be Baidu, the Chinese Search Engine that some people think will be worth more than Facebook in the near future.
Yes, you heard me right: the #2 search engine in the world is Baidu, not Yahoo or Bing. They don’t even come close in fact. In China it’s the #1 search engine, dominating the market, and with more Chinese speakers coming on the Internet, it might be pretty damn soon when its the top in the world.
So here comes the kicker: affiliates and marketers are not advertising on Baidu, because frankly, no one is talking about it.
Seriously: you will not find a single guru, marketing course, private forum or anyone telling you how to advertise on the #2 search engine in the world. In theory, it’s a huge untapped market for affiliates to market a variety of products that Chinese speakers both in China and the US would love
So, why aren’t people running on Baidu then? As Mike Bonfils of SEM International Explains:
Baidu’s business model is to sell its advertising via agencies. It isn’t easy to open a direct account. Baidu has hundreds, if not thousands, of “agencies” but many are not what we would expect in the West, most of Baidu’s agencies are merely “resellers” of Baidu’s advertising programs. However, there are many agencies in China who do offer added value services, as do a few overseas companies who usually have subsidiary branches in China.
The good news is that it used to be harder: Baidu used to only have a Chinese model for advertisers, and no English support whatsoever. That’s changed.
Frank Watson Explains in Search Engine Watch:
Dominant Chinese search engine Baidu quietly launched more of its international efforts with the help of a Singapore-based partner and their new website – Baidu International – and a Twitter account to start following people in the search industry.
Now marketers really interested in Baidu can go to http://is.baidu.com/paidsearch.html and contact them directly and learn about their services. Consider this: almost no one is using Baidu in our industry, so if you are the first one to figure it out, you’re going to find yourself a very, very wealthy affiliate.
