The news comes during a period of global economic downturn and one day after Yahoo announced a 64 per cent profit loss in its quarterly release.
According to Baidu’s report, revenues from July to September reached Rmb 919 million (US$135.4 million). This is an increase of more than 85 per cent from the same period last year.
According to Baidu’s report, revenues from July to September reached Rmb 919 million (US$135.4 million). This is an increase of more than 85 per cent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, net income increased to Rmb 347.9 million ($51.2 million) in Q3 2008, up by 91.4 per cent from 2007’s third quarter.
Baidu attributed its stellar growth to an increase in the number of active online marketing customers and revenue per customer.
The number of Baidu’s active online marketing customers grew by 7.2 per cent from the second quarter to more than 194,000, and revenue per active online marketing customer rose by 34.3 per cent to Rmb4,700 ($692) from last year.
“As China’s leader in paid search, Baidu has a large and diverse customer base covering numerous industries and sectors. Such diversity gives us great stability and positions us to capture future growth,” said Robin Li (pictured), Baidu’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Companies throughout China are increasingly recognising the value of Baidu's paid search as an effective marketing tool and we remain confident in our long-term growth potential.”
Baidu’s earnings have also benefited from searches following the Olympics, and from a push to enter new industries.
Earlier in the year, Baidu launched an instant messaging platform, and last month it launched an e-commerce site Youa.com.
