CReATION: CNNIC poll dropped due to lack of website development in China

<p>The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) scrapped its </p><p>ranking of the top 10 websites in China, taking heed of continued </p><p>criticism regarding the credibility of the much publicised poll, because </p><p>of the underdeveloped status of the mainland Internet market, a senior </p><p>executive at CNNIC said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Before it was axed, the poll had been part of the biannual "Statistical </p><p>Report on China's Internet Network Development". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The poll conducted by CNNIC has been temporarily been put on hold," </p><p>confirmed CNNIC deputy office director Wu Yangyi, adding that </p><p>"considering the development of websites in the country, the situation </p><p>is not mature for us to conduct the poll at the present." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In June this year, leading mainland websites and other industry </p><p>institutions had criticised the poll, which asked mainland Internet </p><p>users to identify their most preferred top 10 websites, saying that the </p><p>poll was prone to manipulation, while also qustioning the methodology of </p><p>the ranking. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Leading industry experts complained that there were possibilities of </p><p>cheating in the CNNIC ratings and although CNNIC had been trying to </p><p>avoid this, it was impossible to prevent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Also, the lack of differentiation between different types of websites </p><p>being polled in China made it impossible to draw any conclusions from </p><p>the ratings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Game pages, ecommerce sites and web portals must be measured according </p><p>to different standards if a meaningful ranking of the most popular </p><p>websites is to be determined. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But although websites have criticised the poll in the past, they have </p><p>also found it difficult to stay away and lose out on the opportunity to </p><p>be named as China's top 10 websites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the winner of the last poll Sina.com opposed the ranking and CEO </p><p>Wang Zhidong did not attend the conference announcing the Web winners, </p><p>the website did not remove itself from CNNIC consideration. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The survey has in the past been an important marketing tool in raising a </p><p>website's profile and has been instrumental for venture capital </p><p>fundraising and attracting online advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Until last year, the poll was given little attention, but with an </p><p>increasing number of websites and escalating competition for dwindling </p><p>cash reserves, methods of raising the company profile have also </p><p>risen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Considering the facts, industry experts agree that it is best to halt </p><p>the poll, while they also agree that the CNNIC semiannual "Statistical </p><p>Report on China's Internet Network Development" which CNNIC will </p><p>continue to conduct - is otherwise useful. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The statistical report is issued every January and July and covers data </p><p>including statistics on the number of China Internet subscribers, </p><p>registered domain names, technical details on international bandwidth of </p><p>the networks, as well as the number of websites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Further sections look at geographic distribution and other </p><p>characteristics of Internet subscribers, as well as Internet usage, </p><p>including user habits and opinions on Internet-related topics. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So far there are few alternatives to the official CNNIC report and lack </p><p>of standardisation of research methodology remains a problem in the </p><p>mainland. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"What we need in China is different types of research so that we can </p><p>cross reference and come up with a result, says DoubleClick country </p><p>manager for China Kelvin Cheng. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It takes time for research services to establish themselves," he </p><p>continued, "but there are lots of companies coming into the market at </p><p>present." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But recommended Mr Cheng, "CNNIC is already widely accepted in the </p><p>industry so they should adopt new methodology and continue their </p><p>research." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While CNNIC is still debating if and how it will resume conducting the </p><p>poll, others are already predicting that transnational surveys eagerly </p><p>step in to replace the who's who in China's websites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Source: CMM Intelligence. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>