China's online ad market nears RMB11bn

Beijing - Search engine advertising and in-game promotions pushed China's online advertising market up 75% to RMB10.6 billion in 2007, according to a new report.

Internet research group iResearch said the surge was driven by a boom in search engine optimisation (SEO), which experienced a 108% increase. The report said SEO accounted for 27.3% of the market and this year would represent some 30% of all online advertising.

But search was not the only winner in 2007, marketers are increasingly using the online medium for brand advertising.

iResearch said online brand advertising jumped 65.3% to RMB4.8 billion and by 2011 would reach RMB23.7 billion.

The iResearch data is slightly higher than Nielsen Online's predictions that online advertising would hit more than RMB10 billion in 2007. Nielsen's report said Lenovo, Coke and Samsung - all Olympic sponsors - were among the net's biggest spenders.

iResearch said advertising embedded in games would also become a driving force, the report said.

The research company said by the end of 2008, online advertising would reach RMB17.2 billion and a whooping RMB37 billion by 2011.