China's internet regulator announce new rules for search advertising

Dive Brief:

After reviewing search engine Baidu's business practices, China's internet regulator has now instituted new rules that search companies must provide "objective, fair and authoritative results," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Under the new rules, which go into effect on August 1, search engines in China will be required to authenticate advertisers, identify the ratio of paid search results, and delineate between organic search results and ads. 

Search engines will also not be allowed to provide banned information and must report any banned information that appears online to regulators. 

Dive Insight:

China's fast-growing economy has led many brands to market their products in the country, but that doesn't come without its own unique set of challenges, including adhering to China's new search advertising rules.

After Baidu, China's largest search engine, found itself in hot water over misleading search results, internet regulators have directed search companies to be more transparent about their advertising practices and more proactive about removing banned content. Part of the regulator's directive was that search results shouldn't harm the rights and interests of China, the public, and other legal organizations.

The regulators' ruling was made in response to complaints from end users about the difficulty of distinguishing organic search results from native advertising, a not-uncommon issue in today's internet economy. As consumers have turned to ad blocking technology to stop intrusive advertising, internet companies have found new ways to deliver ads to consumers, sometimes disguising them as organic content. The new ruling from China's internet regulator limits the number of paid ads search engines can display on search engine response pages (SERPs).

Marketers active in the Chinese marketplace should take note of the changes and adjust their strategies to meet the new rules coming into effect later this summer. 

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Source: China's internet regulator announce new rules for search advertising