Chinese LG mobile campaign
Total ad spend in China will jump 20 percent from 2007 to 2008, reaching $32 billion, according to a GroupM report (via ClickZ).
The report, titled "This Year, Next Year: China," attributed the growth to the rapid development and popularity of online and mobile ad formats.
Highlights from the report:
- Automotive, IT, real estate, and network services attract the biggest spend.
- Together, online and mobile advertising will represent 7.3 percent of total Chinese ad spend in 2008 ($2.3 billion) and 8.5 percent in 2009 (over $3.2 billion).
- Year-on-year revenue growth is expected to leap 65 percent in '08 and another 40 percent in '09. (Slowed YOY growth in '09 is attributed to this year's Olympics-led surge.)
Around 120 million of China's 228 million internet users participated in online gaming last year, but the most popular activity is acquiring and playing online music, which engaged 86 percent of the country's online population in Jan. '08.
The latter point is part of what explains the popularity of top Chinese search engine Baidu, which makes it easy for users to locate free music, legal or not. (It also has a few ad-supported music partnerships, including one with EMI.)
In February, Google tried seizing search share from Baidu — which has often inflamed musicians and songwriters — by tempting Chinese users with its own free music downloads. It recently also introduced a search feature that locates legally free music on the web.
Image credit: bobbymond.
