WEB BRIEFINGS: Chinese websites forgo advertising online

<p>China's websites are sticking to their traditional media guns when </p><p>it comes to advertising their Web offerings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And advertising on billboards, TV and in newspapers has largely </p><p>dominated awareness drives, ramping mainland adspend for 1999 up to </p><p>US$4.2 billion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Chinese glossy Zhongguo Jingying Bao - China Business - of </p><p>the US$14 million spent by mainland Websites in 1999, a meagre </p><p>US$2.5 million was devoted to advertising online. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This constituted a marginal 0.1 per cent of total adspend in the </p><p>mainland. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Meanwhile, in line with China's aggressive website explosion in '99, the </p><p>number of websites advertising in traditional media also rose from 33 at </p><p>the start of the year to 154 by year-end. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Cashing in on the Web revolution, advertising rates saw a 30 per cent </p><p>rise, from RMB3.57 million (US$431,159) to RMB45.07 million </p><p>(US$5.4 million). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sina.com, Renren.com and China.com ranked as among the top 10 websites </p><p>by month on month adspend, said the report, with rankings prone to </p><p>volatile fluctuations. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Website advertising on the mainland was reportedly hampered by a lack of </p><p>widespread industry knowledge, leading to ads failing to deliver brand </p><p>values besides a URL or catchy slogan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>