CReATION: Dim outlook for China sites

<p>Websites in China are almost a dime a dozen, however, their future </p><p>appears clouded because of a lack of measurement, creative and </p><p>production support. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Phil Ren, founder and chairman of WiseCast Media and WiseHorse Media, </p><p>said that in terms of the number and types of sites, the mainland market </p><p>was "severely over-supplied". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But he said the main problem was the fact that there was what he called </p><p>an incomplete industry add-on service: buying agencies, measurement </p><p>services and creative and production support. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There are very few specialised buying agencies for the Internet, and </p><p>for the few who are in operation, they lack evaluation tools. Creative </p><p>and production facilities for online is few and far between too," Mr Ren </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said that this had a knock-on effect: it was therefore more difficult </p><p>to persuade advertisers in traditional media to allocate even a small </p><p>part of their budget for online activities. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, Mr Ren believed that the Internet would become as strongly </p><p>entrenched in China as any other country of the world because the number </p><p>of people taking to 'Net was growing strongly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Eventually, a critical mass would be achieved when advertisers no longer </p><p>could ignore the Internet as a medium on a par with television and </p><p>print, he added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"By then, the Internet should have the peripheral support it needs," Mr </p><p>Ren said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he believed that the mainland would not be able to support a </p><p>vast number of websites indefinitely and that a consolidation as has </p><p>happened in the West and in Hong Kong would likely occur. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"A lot of people will fail. But after the market consolidates, the </p><p>situation would be more healthy for all." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>