bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Alice Woodhouse

Zen Soo

Stricter regulation of medical advertising is putting pressure on mainland search engines such as Baidu to improve consumer protection, experts say.
Medicine and health care were among the 10 major industries contributing to Baidu’s online marketing revenue in 2015, according to the company’s latest annual report.
By contrast, the medical industry does not even factor into Google’s top 10 industries in terms of advertising revenue, according to data by Shanghai-based digital marketing firm Sekkei Studio.
“Previously, the old advertising law had restrictions on medical advertisements but only on pharmaceutical products and medical equipment,” said Eugene Low, a partner at the Hong Kong office of law firm Hogan Lovells.
China’s probe into Baidu highlights concerns over firm’s dominance of internet searches
“The new advertising law enacted from September last year now also includes medical treatments.”
Google is not immune to advertising controversy. In 2011, it was fined US$500 million by the United States Department of Justice for displaying adverts for ­Canadian pharmacies targeting US customers.
Depending on the target country, Google’s advertising policy restricts promotion of health-care-related content including over-the-counter medication, medical services and procedures.
The boom in medical adverts on the mainland is caused by the emergence of thousands of private hospitals and pharmacies that fill a gap in public services, according to a research note by Morningstar analyst Marie Sun.
Baidu’s online marketing revenue for the year ending December was US$9.89 billion, company filings showed. Google’s was US$67.4 billion for the same ­period.
“We do apply particular vigilance to the health-care vertical because we understand its importance and sensitivity,” a Baidu representative said.
China launches probe into Baidu over paid search listings after student dies following cancer treatment sourced online
“Over the years, we have proactively cleaned up the customer base, efforts which include rigorous standards of certification, careful screening of potentially misleading ads, [and] our Plus V verification programme that is applied to all customers, with additional scrutiny on medical advertisers.”
An internal letter circulated in Baidu’s intranet obtained by The Beijing News said Baidu turned down 30 million yuan in promotional requests from illegal medical services and closed down 438,000 suspicious advertising accounts in 2015.
Baidu’s Plus V verification systems rates advertisers on a series of factors from customer feedback to the cost and duration of an advertiser’s campaign, according to David Henriques, co-founder and general manager of Sekkei Studio.
Advertisers are rated V1, V2 or V3, the highest, with a rating percentage displayed next to the advert, Henriques said, explaining this was aimed at reassuring cautious mainland consumers.


Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent execs among Big Tech members on new China AI standards committee

Baidu-backed Chinese EV maker Jiyue to cut operations, payroll to survive brutal race

Baidu launches AI assistant to help civil servants write essays on communist party ideology

China’s generative AI users reach 230 million as start-ups, Big Tech roll out LLM services

Baidu

Baidu leaps in where Google opts not to tread

Medicine and health care were among the 10 major top fiveindustries contributing more than 50 per cent ofto Baidu’s total online marketing revenue in 2015. File Photo