Baidu CCTV sponsorship bid 40 million intended to settle the door?

Chinese Internet search giant Baidu (Baidu.com Inc) in the first quarter advertising expenditures amounted to RMB 40 million (about $ 5.6 million), most of them to China Central Television. Critics have questioned this network is in the money spent on Baidu for China Central Television of all ages.

Baidu April 27 performance in a conference call after the announcement, Baidu's chief financial officer Li Xin Xi confirmed the data. Li Xin Xi said the company will increase this cost as a marketing-related expenses.

April 30 began, a story titled "Baidu executives exposed material: We collected 40 million CCTV" postings on the Internet in China, then the major sites and forums are widely reproduced. (Baidu and China Central Television reporter last Friday did not return requests for comment.)

Which is the background: In November last year, China Central Television broadcast a series of critical reports on Baidu PPC operations. Exposure of a news program, said Baidu's medical license from the company takes the money and did not allow these companies to advertise on their network. Reported that these companies pay more money, their names appear on the search results page, the higher the ranking. These reports led to Baidu's shares plunged more than 25% of the day, Baidu was forced to redesign its search results in response to outside criticism.

January of this year, Baidu CEO Robin Li, the Spring Festival Gala on China Central Television appearances, this is a universal concern of the annual event. Total number of Internet users statistics Robin Li appeared in a television program on eight. At the same time, Baidu also purchased the 15-second ad before the Spring Festival, a comic show in the evening also referred to Baidu. Since then, the media and the public are beginning to speculate Baidu CCTV how much was spent in advertising.

There is no evidence of Baidu advertising on China Central Television's programming decisions have any effect, and Li's image has been very famous in China. But this shows that the Chinese public the complex relationship between the two media giants interest.

The topic of a heated discussion on the Internet. Internet users in a Phoenix, said two months ago (CCTV) also blame the immoral profit model, with the spoils of an instant start.

Internet users also quipped, Li show his face in a total of 8 times a day Spring Festival, namely, 5 million each, the one big face ah!

Late last month, Baidu announced the first-quarter net profit 181.1 million yuan (about 26.5 million U.S. dollars), up 24% over the same period last year.

From "Wall Street Journal," May 11