WebProNews

China's online advertising market reached approximately $176 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to Analysys International.

The firm found that Baidu and Sina were the top Web portals in China, with market shares of 20.6 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively.

Online ad spending has continued to increase since 1998 according to a Shanghai iResearch report from June 2005. Growth rates nearing 50 percent suggest that the market has not yet reached maturity.

Advertising is up overall in China. CTR Market Research released data in February 2007 that said China's ad spending grew 18 percent in 2006. Nielsen Media Research put china's 2006 ad revenues at $49.9 billion. Nielsen's data included newspapers, magazines and television, which it said received the most ad spending at 81 percent.

TV ads brought in 56 times the revenue as online display ads from May through September 2006, according to Nielsen//NetRatings AdRevelance.

Numbers are driving the growth in China. Indicators reveal that China is on track to have the largest Internet market in the number of users by the end of the decade.