How to Choose a Baidu PPC Agency: 10 Questions Every Advertiser Should Ask

Choosing a Baidu PPC agency is one of the most consequential decisions you will make for your China advertising. A good agency saves you months of trial and error, protects your budget, and accelerates your results. A bad one burns through your budget while delivering reports that look busy but mean nothing.

The challenge: most international advertisers have never worked with a Baidu agency before. They do not know what good looks like. Here are 10 questions that separate serious agencies from pretenders.

Question 1: Are You an Authorized Baidu Partner?

This is non-negotiable. An authorized Baidu partner (百度授权服务商) has a direct relationship with Baidu, access to Baidu's partner portal, and the ability to open accounts under their verified entity.

What to listen for:

• "Yes, we are a Baidu authorized partner" — Good
• "We work with a partner who handles Baidu" — Red flag (adds a middleman)
• "We manage Baidu accounts through our own Chinese entity" — Acceptable, but verify

Why it matters: Non-partner agencies cannot open accounts directly, cannot access Baidu's priority support, and often lack real-time campaign data access.

Question 2: What Is Your Experience with International Advertisers?

Managing Baidu campaigns for Chinese companies is fundamentally different from managing them for international brands. The challenges — language barriers, compliance, currency, time zones, cultural context — require specific experience.

What to listen for:

• Concrete examples of international clients (without naming confidential ones)
• Understanding of de-localization (converting Chinese market data for foreign audiences)
• Familiarity with your industry vertical

Question 3: How Do You Handle Account Ownership?

This is where many agencies create problems. Some agencies open accounts under their own entity and retain ownership — making it difficult for you to switch providers later.

Best practice: The agency opens the account, but you should have full admin access and the ability to transfer the account if you change agencies. Ask explicitly: "If we part ways, who owns the account?"

Question 4: What Does Your Reporting Look Like?

Generic monthly reports with impression and click counts are worthless. You need reports that answer business questions.

What good reporting includes:

• Lead volume and cost per lead by campaign/ad group
• Conversion rate trends over time
• Search term analysis (what people actually searched)
• Budget utilization and pacing
• Recommendations for next month's optimization
• Comparison with previous periods and industry benchmarks

Ask for a sample report before signing. If they cannot produce one, that tells you everything.

Question 5: What Is Your Fee Structure?

Common models include:

Red flag: Agencies that only offer percentage-of-spend models with no cap. If your budget grows, their fee grows — but their workload may not.

Question 6: How Do You Handle Chinese Content Creation?

Baidu ads require Chinese-language ad copy and landing pages. Machine translation does not work.

What to listen for:

• Native Chinese copywriters on staff
• Process for localization (not just translation)
• Landing page design and hosting capabilities
• A/B testing methodology for ad copy

Question 7: What Happens When Performance Drops?

Every campaign has bad weeks. What matters is how the agency responds.

Good answer: "We diagnose the issue within 24 hours — is it seasonality, competitor action, quality score drop, or platform change? Then we implement targeted fixes and communicate the plan to you within 48 hours."

Bad answer: "We will increase the budget to compensate."

Question 8: Can You Provide References from Similar Clients?

Any reputable agency should be able to provide references from clients in similar industries or geographies. They may not name specific companies (confidentiality), but they should be able to share anonymized case studies with real metrics.

Question 9: How Do You Stay Current with Baidu's Changes?

Baidu's advertising platform changes frequently — new features, policy updates, pricing model adjustments. Your agency should have a systematic way of staying current.

Good signs:

• Direct contact with Baidu account managers
• Regular internal training on platform updates
• A blog or knowledge base documenting Baidu changes

Question 10: What Does Onboarding Look Like?

A good agency has a structured onboarding process. Ask them to walk you through it step by step.

A typical professional onboarding:

1. Discovery call — understand your business, goals, and budget
2. Market analysis — keyword research, competitor analysis, CPC benchmarks
3. Strategy proposal — campaign structure, budget allocation, timeline
4. Account setup — opening, verification, compliance review
5. Campaign build — keywords, ad copy, landing pages, tracking
6. Launch and monitor — go live, daily monitoring, weekly reporting
7. Optimization cycle — ongoing improvements based on data

If the agency says "we will just set up some ads and see how it goes" — walk away.

🚨 Red Flags Summary

🤝 Why BPP

At BPP, we meet all 10 criteria above. We are a Baidu authorized partner specializing in international advertisers. Our team includes native Chinese speakers, experienced PPC managers, and compliance specialists.

We do not lock you into contracts. We do not own your account. We provide transparent reporting and honest assessments.

Want to see if BPP is the right fit for your business?

Talk to the BPP team. We will walk you through our approach, show you real client results, and answer every question on this list — no pressure, no fluff.

→ Contact BPP