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June 19, 2008

Alibaba Aspires to Overtake the China Ad Market

Alibaba, known for its eBay-like online auction site in China, is apparently getting some traction for its free online auction service called Alimama.com, Reuters U.K. reports. The Alimama service was launched last year.

Since then, it's reached a milestone. According to reports, it has currently 400,000 registered Web sites and 2.8 billion daily page views in the 10-month trial run, according to the Reuters article.

The goal for the subsidiary is to build the largest share of online advertising in China within three to five years, according to a source quoted in the article.

The Chinese company may just have an edge over its foreign competitors, said Josh Crandall, managing director of Media-Screen, a strategic market research and consulting firm that looks at the markets in both the U.S. and China.

"Albaba is a strong company based in China, so it has a leg up," he said. "It knows small businesses and already has a relationship with small businesses." Crandall said global and American companies won't find it so easy to compete with Alimama.com once it has established a relationship.

Alimama.com will have to compete with existing China-based advertising companies such as Baidu.

Posted by Enid Burns at June 19, 2008 9:48 AM

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