China's online media need good statistics - Paul Denlinger

Paul Denlinger

Lacking reliable data on China's online media is having a debilitating effect on the industry, argues Paul Denlinger in his latest column at China Vortex.

The situation is not helped by government-supported “big picture” reports by CNNIC which give too broad numbers on a national basis and support a government agenda, but do not provide any business insights. They are great grist for press releases and the politically-charged Chinese and western media, but that is about the only value they have.

Only good independent statistics might help China's online media to get their fair share of ads revenue, Denlinger says:

It’s a testament to the robustness and attraction of China’s economy that the Internet has been able to grow as fast and as far as it has without these independent numbers and stats, but it is also a tragedy that many dollars have not made it to China because of the comparative opacity of the market.

If this systemic bottleneck problem can be addressed, the volume of ad money which would go to Chinese online publishers would go up dramatically.

Paul Denlinger is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.