Baidu SEM FAQ 💡

Yes. Baidu supports account opening for foreign companies and entities. You don't need a Chinese domestic business license to get started — we handle the process for you.

No functional difference. The only distinction is in the ad display: the company name shown at the bottom of your ads will be either your foreign company name or your Chinese company name, depending on which entity the account is registered under.

Required documents:
(a) Business license copy + certified translation (stamped with company seal)
(b) Enterprise info screenshot from government website + certified translation (stamped with company seal)
(c) Bank account certificate + translated document from designated institution (stamped with company seal). Examples: bank transfer records, bank statements, local tax certificates, checks, monthly statements
(d, optional) Screenshot of landing page homepage (stamped with company seal)

If you have any difficulty providing these documents, we are happy to assist.

Yes. There is an annual account authentication fee of CNY 600. For new users, this fee is refunded to your ad account after the first year — effectively making it free for the first year.

Baidu's official rule is a minimum top-up of CNY 2,400. However, to save on transaction fees and reduce transfer time, we recommend a single top-up of CNY 10,000 or more.

Pre-paid advertising fee: minimum CNY 2,400
Service fee: starting from USD 100, which includes document translation, document review, and submission handling

If you have difficulty providing the required documents, we are happy to assist.

No. Baidu only supports pre-payment. You must have sufficient balance in your account before your ads can run. There is no credit or post-pay option.

Cost-per-click (CPC): You are charged only when a user clicks your ad.
Your CPC = (Competitor Bid × Competitor Quality Score ÷ Your Quality Score) + CNY 0.01
You can also use oCPC (optimized CPC), where you pay for completed conversions rather than clicks.

Cost per click: There is no uniform price. Low-competition keywords may cost a few yuan per click. In highly competitive industries, popular keywords can cost dozens to over CNY 100 per click.
Minimum monthly budget: The minimum daily budget is CNY 50, which means the theoretical monthly minimum is CNY 1,500. The actual cost depends on search volume for your target keywords. There is no upper cap.

No. Ads cannot run until your account passes review. You must resolve the rejection issues and get approved before any ads go live.

Common rejection reasons:
• Expired qualifications or licenses
• Content contains prohibited words
• Website is unreachable or offline
• Content is false, exaggerated, or misleading
• Any other compliance violations

Common prohibited words include absolute claims such as:
• "cheapest"
• "number one in the country"
• "100% effective"
• "guaranteed results"
And similar superlative or unverifiable claims.

Use Baidu's prohibited word detection tool and refer to China's Advertising Law for self-inspection before submitting your ads.

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Read the review notes carefully
Step 2: Revise the specific content flagged
Step 3: Re-submit for review
Step 4: If you believe the rejection is incorrect, file an appeal for special review

We handle this process for our managed clients.

Yes. Regulated industries such as healthcare and finance must:
• Provide industry-specific licenses (e.g., medical institution practice license)
• Avoid efficacy claims in all ad copy and landing page content
• Ensure all claims are substantiated and compliant with Chinese advertising regulations

Not with proper targeting. Baidu's data lets you narrow audiences by location, interests, and search intent, so your ads reach people who actually match your customer profile. Irrelevant impressions drop sharply once campaigns are dialed in.

It's low. You can pay per click or per impression, and the minimum daily spend is CNY 50. You stay in control of spending the whole time, which makes it easy to test the waters without committing heavily.

You can. Your account manager helps set up the account, generates ad creatives using AI tools, and advises on landing page optimization. You don't need an in-house marketing team to get going.

They blend in. Feed ads appear natively within Baidu App content streams — news, articles, and similar browsing contexts — so they don't disrupt the user experience. Acceptance rates for native feed ads are generally higher than for traditional display placements.

All data is accessible in real time. The dashboard shows impressions, clicks, and inquiries as they happen, and you can trace the full conversion path. ROI is straightforward to calculate.

Yes. Baidu's user base is massive, and the targeting system works well with long-tail interests and behavioral signals. Even for smaller industries, the combination of broad reach and narrow targeting usually surfaces enough relevant prospects.

You set basic criteria — age, gender, location — and Baidu's system handles the rest. It looks at your creative content, industry, and past campaign data to find high-quality audiences automatically. The idea is to save you from manual trial-and-error while keeping cost stable.

Baidu provides built-in tools for images, video, and headlines — you don't need third-party software. The platform can also generate creatives automatically. Regular A/B testing on images and copy typically moves the needle more than any single creative tweak.

Brand Zone is a dedicated display area at the top of search results — it shows your logo, product line-up, and a link to your official site all in one block. Regular search ads are text-based and mixed in with organic results. The main advantage is visibility and credibility: you get the full first-screen placement, which also means competing brands don't appear above you.

Pricing is flexible. You choose the display format and campaign length based on your budget — there's no mandatory minimum spend. Compared to traditional brand advertising channels (TV, print, out-of-home), Brand Zone usually comes out ahead on cost per impression, and the targeting is far more precise.

Targeting is granular. You set the industry, region, and core keywords, and your brand zone only appears when someone searches for terms related to your brand or product category. That cuts down wasted impressions considerably compared to run-of-network placements.

You have full editorial control. Plan your brand story, product highlights, and campaign landing pages however you want — images, video, carousels, it's all supported. Changes can be made at any time during the campaign, so you're not locked into one creative direction.

The reporting covers impressions, clicks, average session duration, and click-through to your official site. You can track these over time to see whether brand interest and engagement are trending up. It's not as precise as last-click attribution, but the direction is clear.

No in-house work required. Baidu assigns a dedicated team to handle the full cycle — strategy, page design, creative production, and ongoing optimization. Even if this is your first brand campaign on Baidu, they handle the heavy lifting.

oCPC (optimized cost-per-click) is Baidu's AI-driven bidding model. Instead of you setting bids for each keyword, the system estimates the conversion probability of every click in real time and adjusts the bid accordingly. It pushes harder on clicks likely to convert and backs off on those that aren't. The result: lower cost per conversion and more of them.

oCPC runs in two stages. Stage one is a learning period — the system collects conversion data to build its model. You need enough conversions during this window (typically 30+ within a few days, depending on your industry) before the system promotes you to stage two, where automated bidding takes over. If you're not hitting that threshold, your account manager can suggest ways to widen targeting or lower conversion actions.

The usual reasons are: not enough conversions coming in, conversion data isn't being passed back to Baidu correctly, or the conversion action you chose is too far down the funnel (e.g., "completed purchase" instead of "submitted lead form"). Switching to a shallower conversion action often helps the model learn faster.

First, confirm whether you're still in the learning period (the first 3 days after launch). Overspending is normal there. If you're past that, check whether your target CPA is set too low relative to market rates, whether conversion tracking is accurate, and whether you recently changed campaign settings. Our team monitors this and adjusts as needed.

Baidu offers an invalid-lead compensation policy for oCPC campaigns. If a lead doesn't result in a real inquiry or sale (wrong number, spam, etc.), you can report it. Baidu will investigate and, if confirmed, credit your account. The exact rules depend on your campaign settings and the type of conversion you selected.

Common causes include: a delay between Baidu's count and your CRM update, conversion tracking code placed on the wrong page, or duplicate conversions being counted. Start by checking the Baidu oCPC platform to see how many conversions were actually sent back. If the numbers still don't line up, your account manager can audit the tracking setup.

Shared budget lets multiple campaigns draw from a single daily pool. If Campaign A hits its cap while Campaign B still has room, the system automatically shifts funds to A. This is useful when you have several campaigns targeting similar goals and don't want to micromanage individual budgets. It doesn't change your total daily spend — just how it's distributed.

Start with the landing page. If it loads slowly (over 3 seconds), most visitors leave before they even read your offer. After that, check whether the page actually matches what your ad promised — if the ad says "Baidu advertising for healthcare brands" but the page talks about something generic, people bounce. Finally, look at whether the form or contact button is above the fold. If the user has to scroll to find a way to reach you, many won't bother.

Bid is only one factor. Baidu's auction combines your bid with quality score — a measure of how relevant your keyword, ad copy, and landing page are to each other. A high bid with a low quality score often loses to a lower bid with a high quality score. Check whether your ad copy and landing page actually address the search intent behind each keyword. Also confirm your daily budget hasn't been exhausted early in the day, which kills remaining impressions.

A few things to check in order. First, pull your search term report and look for broad-match terms that shouldn't be triggering your ads — these quietly drain budgets. Second, check if a competitor entered the auction and pushed up CPCs across your keywords. Third, look for invalid click spikes in your account dashboard. If the cost increase happened suddenly on a single day, it's often either a new competitor or an invalid-click event. Gradual increases over weeks usually point to new irrelevant terms creeping in.

The short list: raise your daily budget (if it's running out before noon), loosen your keyword match types from exact to phrase or broad, expand your keyword list to include related terms, widen your geographic targeting, and increase your bidding time windows if you're running hour-of-day schedules. The fastest single lever is usually match type — switching even two or three keywords from exact to phrase match can double your eligible impressions.

Baidu has built-in invalid click filtering and will credit your account when it detects fraudulent activity. You can also check your visitor log in the Baidu backend to identify IPs with abnormally high click counts and no on-site activity, then block those IPs directly. For persistent competitors, IP exclusion and tighter audience targeting help limit exposure to known bad actors. It's not a perfect system, but the combination of Baidu's filters and active IP monitoring keeps fraud manageable.

Don't copy your Google setup directly. The interfaces look similar, but the behavior is different. Baidu's quality score algorithm weighs landing page loading speed more heavily because Chinese mobile users are sensitive to slow loads. Keyword match types behave differently — broad match on Baidu is broader than Google broad match. User intent behind certain queries also differs, so keywords that convert well in English markets may have completely different intent in Chinese. Start fresh with Chinese keyword research rather than translating your English keyword list.

Quality score is Baidu's estimate of how relevant your keyword, ad, and landing page are to the user's search. A higher quality score means Baidu charges you less per click for the same ranking position. The formula: your actual CPC = (competitor bid × competitor quality score ÷ your quality score) + CNY 0.01. In competitive industries, improving quality score is often more cost-effective than raising your bid. Focus on tight keyword-to-ad-copy alignment and fast-loading, relevant landing pages.

If budget depletes quickly with no conversions, oCPC is likely in learning mode or your target CPA is set too low for the market. Pause the campaign, check whether conversion tracking is firing correctly, and look at the targeting settings — overly broad interest targeting on feed ads often attracts volume without quality. Also review your creative: feed ad creatives need to stop the scroll within the first frame of a video or the first image. If the creative isn't doing that, the click-to-lead funnel breaks before it starts.

The CNNIC 57th Statistical Report (Feb 2026) shows search engine usage dropped from 79.2% to 69.5% of Chinese internet users between 2021 and 2025. That's a real shift, but context matters. There are still 782 million people using search in China — an audience larger than any in Europe. The drop reflects attention spreading to short video and AI tools, not search going away. For advertisers, this means search-only campaigns now cover less of the funnel than before. The practical response is to run Baidu search alongside feed placements, so you capture both active intent (search) and passive discovery (feed). Pulling back entirely from search because of the percentage drop would be a mistake.

Generative AI usage in China reached 602 million users (42.8% penetration) as of late 2025, with time spent on AI tools up 176.7% year over year, according to CNNIC. This is a real behavioral shift — some informational queries that previously went to search now go to AI chatbots. However, purchase-intent searches ("buy industrial equipment," "find a supplier for X") still run on search engines because AI tools don't serve ads or close transactions. Baidu has also integrated its own AI products (Ernie Bot, AI search summaries) directly into its search results, so Baidu ad placements remain visible even in AI-augmented search results. Watch this space, but no need to panic yet.

These three metrics operate at different layers of the ad system. CPM (Cost Per Mille) is what you actually pay per 1,000 impressions — it's an output, not something you set. oCPM (Optimized CPM) is your bidding strategy, where you tell the platform your target cost and it adjusts bids in real time to hit that goal. eCPM (Effective CPM) is the system's internal ranking metric: your bid multiplied by your quality score. The system ranks competing ads by eCPM, not by bid alone. In short: advertisers bid with oCPM, the system ranks by eCPM, and your final cost shows up as CPM.

It depends on your conversion data. oCPM works best when you have at least 30 conversions per week per ad group — the system needs enough signal to optimize effectively. If you are just starting out or have low conversion volume, manual bidding gives you more control. For most lead-gen and ecommerce campaigns on Baidu, oCPM usually produces a lower cost per conversion once the learning phase is complete. We help clients choose and set up the right model based on their industry and campaign goals.

A rising CPM usually means one of three things: (a) A new competitor entered the auction and is driving up bid prices, (b) Your quality score dropped, making the system charge you more per impression, or (c) Your targeting is too broad and your ad is competing in more expensive segments. The most effective fix is not to lower your bid — it is to improve your quality score by tightening keyword-to-ad alignment and optimizing your landing page load speed. If CPM keeps climbing despite those fixes, check whether your audience overlap with other active campaigns is causing you to bid against yourself.

No. In fact, a rising CPM often signals that your ad quality improved and the system is pushing your ads into higher-value traffic pools. The key test: if CTR and CVR rise alongside CPM, and CPA drops or stays flat, the higher曝光 cost is paying for itself. In one real ecommerce campaign, CPM climbed from CNY 28 to CNY 36 while CPA dropped from CNY 120 to CNY 72 — a 40% improvement. Monitor the full metric chain, not just CPM alone.

Always read CPM together with CTR (click-through rate), CVR (conversion rate), and CPA (cost per acquisition). A good CPM rise comes with improving CTR and CVR and a flat or declining CPA. A bad CPM rise shows flat or falling CTR and CVR alongside a rising CPA. If you see the bad pattern, the fix is usually creative optimization or tighter audience targeting — not blindly lowering your bid.

These are three different billing models for different campaign goals. CPM (Cost Per Mille) charges per 1,000 impressions — best for brand awareness. CPC (Cost Per Click) charges only when someone clicks — ideal for search intent. oCPM (Optimized CPM) is AI-driven — you set a target cost and Baidu adjusts bids to maximize conversions, best for performance feed campaigns with sufficient conversion data (30+ per week). Choosing the wrong model is the most common budget-wasting mistake on Baidu.

The top 10 B2B segments on Baidu are: machinery & equipment, building materials, plumbing & electrical, electronics & instruments, metallurgy & steel, chemical & energy, security & lighting, hardware & tools, auto parts, and food & agriculture. Machinery and building materials lead by a wide margin. In concentrated sectors like metallurgy and hardware, the top 10 sub-segments capture over 80% of all search volume — meaning you can capture most demand with a focused keyword strategy.

Chinese B2B buyers follow a 3-stage search journey. Stage 1 (Awareness): they search broad industry terms and click on educational content. Stage 2 (Comparison): they narrow to specific manufacturers with terms like "factory direct" and "manufacturer." Stage 3 (Decision): they search pricing, MOQ, and shipping terms. Your Baidu campaigns need different keywords and landing pages for each stage to capture buyers at the right moment.

Yes. Baidu's AI tools are available to overseas accounts managed through BPP — no Chinese entity required. These include prompt-based ad creation (describe your product and the system generates copy, keywords, and bids), AI customer service agents that handle inquiries 24/7, and AI-powered bidding (oCPC) that optimizes for conversions. One case study showed a B2B manufacturer achieving a 126% drop in cost per lead after switching to AI-generated campaigns.

AiCaiGou (爱采购) is Baidu's B2B procurement platform. It is deeply integrated with Baidu Search — meaning your products appear in both organic and paid search results, not just on the marketplace. The platform's top 10 industry categories match the overall B2B search demand almost exactly, and user/merchant numbers grow steadily. For overseas industrial suppliers, AiCaiGou is the fastest path to appearing where Chinese business buyers spend most of their supplier discovery time. BPP can create and manage your AiCaiGou storefront.

Evening campaigns (6 PM to midnight) are heavily undervalued. Baidu's 2024 data shows evening mobile CTR reaches 6.43% with a 3.9% conversion rate — comparable to peak daytime — but with significantly lower competition and CPC. Most advertisers pause campaigns after business hours, leaving an efficiency window. The recommendation: keep campaigns running 9 PM–midnight with budgets at 1-2x your target CPA, and use AI customer service agents to handle inquiries when your team is offline.

Three proven tactics from Baidu's data: (1) Adopt AI-powered campaign tools — prompt-based ad creation has shown CPC reductions of 25-126% in real B2B cases. (2) Run evening and weekend campaigns — lower competition means 30-50% cheaper clicks with comparable conversion rates. (3) Use systematic keyword expansion with Baidu's Keyword Planner and Industry Insights tools, prioritizing the "low CPA, high conversion" keywords over high-volume terms.

Start with East China — it accounts for 50% of all B2B search demand. But the right region depends on your industry. Machinery and electronics cluster in the Yangtze River Delta (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai) and Pearl River Delta (Guangdong). Heavy machinery and chemicals concentrate in Northeast and North China (Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong). Auto parts show outsized demand in Guangdong, Hubei, and Sichuan. Baidu's geo-targeting lets you run region-specific campaigns with region-specific landing pages.

Baidu's recommended full-funnel approach for B2B: Step 1 — Precision Targeting (search ads + feed ads to capture intent). Step 2 — Knowledge Marketing (build authority through Baidu Baike, short videos, and Q&A content). Step 3 — Full-Funnel Website (use Baidu's Jimuyu platform for landing pages with built-in lead capture). Step 4 — Private Domain Operations (use Baijiahao and live streaming for repeat buyers). Step 5 — Lead Operations (convert traffic through AiCaiGou inquiries with CRM integration). BPP handles all five steps for overseas companies — no Chinese entity needed.