China's search engine market reached 303 million RMB (Renminbi ["people's money"], or Yuan; $1=7.998 Yuan), or $37.9 million, in the first quarter of 2006, with China's largest search engine, Baidu, taking a leading market share of 43.9 percent, beating out both Yahoo and Google, according to Beijing-based Analysys International's recently released ''China Search Engine Market Quarterly Tracker Q1 2006'' report.

In second place was Yahoo China, with a market share of 21.1 percent of the China search market in the first quarter. Google, confronted with localization issues, ranked third with a market share of 13.2 percent (see graph). By "localization," Analysys refers to issues of local user experience, marketing channels and payment habits.

According to the report, pay-per-click search revenue for the quarter totaled RMB 175 million; revenues from "fixed position search engine advertising" reached RMB 9 million; and revenues from "real-name keyword registration and advertising services" reached RMB 120 million.

Google apparently has an advantage in multi-language advertising, such as Korean and Japanese, for multinational advertisers. However, in major areas of China such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang, Baidu is favored by online advertisers.

Prior coverage:

- Google Launches China Local Search

- Survey: Google Falls Behind Baidu in China