Sina Seeks Advertising Revenue Boost

March 07, 2012

One of China’s largest Internet giants, Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) has announced it plans to focus on monetizing its online products like Weibo.com, its microblogging service, and a gaming platform to launch in the second quarter. Weibo.com currently has approximately 25 million registered users.

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Sina plans to monetize its microblogging services and gaming platform by launching new display advertising units. Later this year, Sina will also unveil another advertising offering with precise user targeting based on user data and interests. Sina currently has a 7 percent share of the Chinese display ad market. The Internet giant will focus on the enterprise by offering premium features for enterprise users, monetizing them with a subscription-based plan.

Sina will also launch a self-serve advertising plan later this year that is targeted to small business in an attempt for businesses to reach customers using advanced targeting methods. Sina will also incorporate ad models for mobile terminals because the majority of microbloggers access the service through their mobile devices. Sina is planning to monetize its gaming platform, which is currently being used for free by game developers and users.

A direct increase in advertisement revenue is expected for Sina because Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), China’s largest search engine, started indexing microblog updates on Sina and Tencent that could drive additional traffic to Sina’s website. Display advertising accounts for nearly 60 percent of Sina’s $50 Trefis price estimate, while other services like games account for 5 percent.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Diallah Haidar at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com