As China’s vast population gears up for the Olympics buzz this August, key players in online advertising and social networks will be looking for a piece of the action.
Quick Facts on Internet In China
- Total internet users: 221 million – overtaking the US as largest Internet market, April 08
- Network video user population: 160 million at end 07 (China Internet Network Information Centre)
- Broadband subscribers: 71.6 million (28% growth over 1st quarter 07 and 20% household penetration rate) - surpassed the US as largest fixed broadband market, March 08
- Number of .cn domains: 11.8 million registrations – overtook .net as 2nd most popular domain, 1st quarter 08
Facebook has launched a Chinese version of its website. A recent comScore survey of popular social networks in the Asia Pacific (see below figure from Venturebeat) reported that Friendster has a relatively strong headstart in the region. No surprises here. For instance, I prefer incumbent Baidu to Google for more relevant Mandarin-related search results.. at least for now.
Anyway, let’s do this the conventional Chinese way.. all bets are on!
Popular Social Networks in Asia Pacific, April 08 (Source: Venturebeat)
