Guide · Baidu Advertising

Baidu Ads Explained: How Paid Search in China Works for International Companies

Ad products, account opening without a Chinese entity, prepaid budgets, compliance, landing pages and measurement — what international companies need to know before advertising on Baidu.

Published: 2026-09-28
Updated: 2026-09-28

By the Jademond Digital team. Jademond Digital manages Baidu advertising for international companies. Account routes, fees and review rules change often and differ between agencies and resellers; check current terms before you plan. This guide is not legal advice.

The Short Answer

Baidu is still China's main web search engine for research with clear intent — especially in B2B, education, health-related and high-consideration purchases.
Foreign companies can advertise on Baidu without a Chinese entity, usually through an authorised Baidu agency or reseller that opens and funds the account.
Accounts are prepaid. Expect an annual verification fee of about RMB 600, a minimum first top-up and a small minimum daily budget; real budgets depend on keyword competition.
Landing pages decide results. A slow site in China, English-only pages or blocked forms waste most of the budget — hosting and ICP are speed and compliance questions, not a barrier to running ads in most cases.
Compliance is part of the ad. China's Advertising Law bans absolute claims, and regulated industries need approvals before ads go live.

Where Baidu Ads Fit

Chinese users search in many places: Baidu for practical, commercial and B2B research; Douyin and Rednote for discovery and purchase research; AI assistants for answers. Baidu ads capture demand at the moment a user actively looks for a solution — which is why they work particularly well for B2B, education and considered purchases.

Baidu's results page is also changing: AI-generated answers increasingly appear above ads and organic results (see Baidu's new AI search). Ads still get clicks, but the brand should also be visible in the organic and AI parts of the page. Our Chinese GEO guide and the step-by-step guide to Baidu SEO cover those parts.

For how much of Chinese web search Baidu handles today, see search engine market shares in China — and be careful with single-source market share figures.

Baidu Ad Products

What You Can Buy on Baidu

All run through Baidu Marketing, Baidu's advertising platform. Product names and packages change regularly.

Search ads: Text ads on Baidu search results, paid per click and sold by auction on keywords. The core product for most international advertisers.
Brand Zone: A large, fixed-price brand module at the top of results for your brand terms. Protects branded searches and shows images, links and key messages; booked for a period rather than by auction.
Feed ads: Native ads in the news feed of the Baidu app, targeted by interests and behaviour — more like social ads than search ads.
Display network: Ads on Baidu's network of partner websites and apps, paid per click or per thousand impressions — useful for reach and retargeting.
Baidu ecosystem: Organic presence on Baidu Baike, Baidu Zhidao and other Baidu platforms is not bought as ads, but supports the same searches.

Opening a Baidu Ads Account as a Foreign Company

Account Routes

Through an authorised agency or reseller: The usual route for companies without a Chinese entity. The agency submits documents, opens the account, handles payment in RMB and often manages campaigns.
With a Chinese entity: Companies with a Chinese business licence can open accounts directly or through an agency, with Chinese documents and payment.

Typical Requirements

Exact requirements depend on the route, industry and agency.

Company documents: Business registration from the home country (often notarised or with official translation) or a Chinese business licence
Brand documents: Trademark registration — a Chinese trademark helps — and authorisation letters if the advertiser is not the trademark owner
Industry qualifications: Licences or approvals for regulated industries such as medical devices, health products, education, finance or legal services
Website: A working, reachable landing page whose content matches the ads and the advertiser; requirements for hosting and ICP filing can depend on the account route and industry — ask your agency before you build
Verification fee: An annual account verification fee of about RMB 600

Budgets and Payment

Prepaid: Baidu accounts are prepaid. Ads stop when the balance runs out, so plan top-ups ahead of busy periods.
Minimums: A minimum first top-up — reported by resellers from about RMB 1,000 to several thousand RMB, depending on route — and a minimum daily budget of about RMB 50.
Fees on top: Agencies may charge setup fees, top-up fees and a management fee, often a percentage of spend. Ask for all fees in writing; our China marketing costs guide explains the models.
Clicks: Prices depend entirely on competition. Niche B2B terms can be cheap; education, health and finance terms can be very expensive.

Campaign Setup: What Is Different in China

Differences from Google Ads

Many principles are familiar from Google Ads. These are the details that most often cost international advertisers money.

Chinese keywords: Chinese has no spaces between words, and users phrase the same need in many ways. Keyword research must be done in Chinese, with native judgement — direct translations of English keywords miss most searches.
Match types and negatives: Broad matching can bring irrelevant traffic quickly; strong negative keyword lists are essential from day one.
Regional targeting: Target provinces and cities. Demand, competition and prices differ strongly between regions such as Shanghai, Guangdong and inland provinces.
Schedules: Use China time for ad schedules — and consider holidays such as Chinese New Year and Golden Week.
Mobile first: Most searches happen on mobile. Ads and landing pages must be built for phones.
Invalid clicks: Monitor for invalid or suspicious clicks and ask your agency how they are detected and claimed back.

Landing Pages That Work in China

Fast in China: test from inside Mainland China. Sites hosted outside the Mainland can work well — hosting close to China and removing blocked resources such as Google Fonts or reCAPTCHA solve most speed issues. See our Chinese website guide.
Native Simplified Chinese: machine-translated pages lower quality and conversions.
Matching content: the page must match the ad, the advertiser and the approved qualifications.
Contact options Chinese users use: WeChat, phone and short forms that work in China.
Trust signals: Chinese certifications, references, company details and a clear presence in China if you have one.

Compliance and Ad Review

Baidu reviews every account, keyword, ad and landing page. Most rejections follow the PRC Advertising Law and Baidu's industry rules:

Absolute claims such as "best", "No. 1" or "leading" — in Chinese and English
Health, medical or efficacy claims without the right registrations
Missing or mismatched qualifications for regulated industries
Competitor brand names in ad text, and trademark use without authorisation
Sensitive content — check copy with our sensitivity check tool before submitting

Measuring Baidu Ads

Measurement Setup

Analytics that work in China: Baidu Tongji (Baidu Analytics) or another tool that loads reliably in China. See Baidu Analytics special features.
Conversion tracking: Track forms, calls and WeChat contacts, not only clicks.
Search terms: Review the actual search terms regularly and add negatives.
Lead quality: Share lead outcomes with whoever manages the account, so bids follow quality rather than volume.
Whole-search view: Watch organic rankings, Brand Zone and AI answers for the same queries — they influence ad performance and vice versa.

Mistakes to Avoid

Translating Google Ads campaigns into Chinese instead of rebuilding them
Running ads to slow or English-only landing pages
Launching without negative keywords
Not knowing who owns the ad account and whether you can access it
Ignoring regulated-industry rules until ads are rejected
Letting the balance run out during the busiest season

Choosing a Partner

Most international companies use an agency for account opening, payment and management. Our neutral guide How to choose a Baidu PPC agency lists the questions to ask and the red, yellow and green flags to look for. For advertising beyond Baidu, see our paid social guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a foreign company advertise on Baidu?: Yes. Companies without a Chinese entity usually advertise through an authorised Baidu agency or reseller, which opens the account, handles payment in RMB and submits the required documents.
How much does it cost to start Baidu advertising?: Accounts are prepaid. Expect an annual verification fee of about RMB 600, a minimum first top-up reported from about RMB 1,000 to several thousand RMB, and a minimum daily budget of about RMB 50. Real budgets depend on keyword competition.
Do I need an ICP licence to run Baidu ads?: Not necessarily. Requirements depend on the account route and industry; many international advertisers run Baidu ads to websites hosted outside Mainland China. What matters in every case is that the landing page loads fast and reliably in China.
How long does it take to open a Baidu ads account?: Usually from several days to a few weeks, depending on documents, industry qualifications and the agency.
What is Baidu Brand Zone?: Brand Zone is a large, fixed-price brand module shown at the top of Baidu results for searches of your brand name. It is booked for a period rather than bought per click.
Why are Baidu ads rejected?: Mostly because of absolute claims, health or efficacy claims without registrations, missing industry qualifications, unauthorised trademark use or landing pages that do not match the ad.
Can I use my Google Ads campaigns on Baidu?: Only as a starting point. Keywords, match types, ad copy and landing pages need to be rebuilt in native Chinese for Chinese search behaviour.
Are Baidu ads still worth it with AI search growing?: Yes, for many industries — Baidu still reaches hundreds of millions of users with clear search intent. Plan ads together with SEO and GEO, because AI answers and organic results appear on the same results page.