Video platforms overtake search in Chinese advertising revenue

Rob Clapp

An overview of online advertising revenue in China by media platform.

Video platforms now attract almost one-fifth (18.2%) of Chinese online advertising revenue, overtaking search to be the second-largest category. This is according to data from Zhongguancun Interactive Marketing Laboratory, PwC, Miaozhen Marketing Science Academy and Beijing Normal University.

Online video's advertising revenue rose by 64.9% between 2019 and 2020, with this driven by short-form video ads on platforms like Kuaishou. Short-form video doubled its advertising revenue (+106%), while longer video ads rose by 25%.

E-commerce platforms were the only other category to grow their share of online advertising revenue in 2020, rising to reach nearly two-fifths (37.0%).

Additional data show...

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