Please help: Do ads from Google AdSense show up in China?

[Throwshies]

Hi! I registered because I hope you guys can help me out with a business decision.

I have an informational website in English from which I make money through the Google AdSense program (meaning that on my site I host the ads they serve). Now I'm considering translating my site into Chinese in order to increase my audience and earn AdSense income on the Chinese traffic, too. To that end I'm wondering about a few things:

(1) Does the Google AdSense program work properly in China? By that I mean: Do ads show up the way they're supposed to, with relevant targeted content for the region?

Here is an example of a page (not my own) featuring an AdSense ad. To the right of the title "One Of The Worst Examples Of Google AdSense Placement That I’ve Seen In A Long Time" you should see a 300*250 rectangular ad. If you're in China now, I would dearly love to know if you see an ad? (Which ad do you see?)

(2) My website is not a political website, though it does feature a derogatory statement about Mao Zedong buried deep in the content. Should I remove that statement in order not to get blocked, or am I being overly paranoid?

(3) Which language/dialect should I get my website translated into for maximal viewing?

(4) Should I expect Google China to find my website once it's been translated?

(5) Is there anything else that makes browsing the internet in China different? My website, in English, relies a lot on people sharing the link with one another - does that work the same way in China (what with the Facebook/Twitter block and all).

Hope someone will be so kind as to help me out. Looking forward to any replies!

[roddy]

On 1) - yes, but don't assume the same RPM figures - clicks and views within China are worth a lot less.

[Throwshies]

Thank you so much for replying!

When you say 'worth a lot less', can you give me an idea of which ballpark we are in - are we talking half or 1/10th of an American/European RPM - or 1/100th?

[Lu]

(2) You won't get blocked over one derogatory statement about Mao buried somewhere deep in the site. If a lot of Chinese users come across the statement, they may take offence.

(3) The official language of China is Mandarin and if you want to do anything in China, that's what you should have your website translated into. Also take cultural differences into account: for example, in the Chinese translation you may want to remove or rephrase that statement about Mao.

(4) There is no Google China, Google left China some years ago. Chinese users can use Google Hong Kong, but often they'll use Baidu, the Chinese version of Google.

(5) China has its own versions of Facebook and Twitter. Sina Weibo is most popular microblog site; Weixin (Wechat), which is a bit like a mix between Whatsapp and Facebook, is getting bigger and bigger. There are several Facebook-like sites, I'm not sure which one is the biggest/most suitable.

[roddy]

I haven't run Adsense in any significant way for years, but China RPM probably ran 30%-60% of US. Which I guess is not that bad.

It may be worth looking at, eg, Baidu's equivalent program.

But what pays in the US may not pay here.

[Throwshies]

Thank you so much, both Lu and roddy!

Lu: (2) You won't get blocked over one derogatory statement about Mao buried somewhere deep in the site. If a lot of Chinese users come across the statement, they may take offence.

Lu: (3) The official language of China is Mandarin and if you want to do anything in China, that's what you should have your website translated into. Also take cultural differences into account: for example, in the Chinese translation you may want to remove or rephrase that statement about Mao.

Thank you; I think I will do that! It is difficult from someone with no experience of China to know what is acceptable to the average Chinese internet user and what is not.

Lu: (4) There is no Google China, Google left China some years ago. Chinese users can use Google Hong Kong, but often they'll use Baidu, the Chinese version of Google.

Thank you for telling me that! I do remember the controversy, but I heard recently that Google AdSense worked in China and so I figured Google must be operative there. It makes sense that there would be a local search engine, and if people prefer it to Google Hong Kong, I assume it is just as good.

Lu: (5) China has its own versions of Facebook and Twitter. Sina Weibo is most popular microblog site; Weixin (Wechat), which is a bit like a mix between Whatsapp and Facebook, is getting bigger and bigger. There are several Facebook-like sites, I'm not sure which one is the biggest/most suitable.

Thank you for enlightening me. I hope I will eventually see traffic coming to my Mandarin website from Sina Weibo and Weixin and the others then, the way I see it coming from Facebook/Twitter/tumblr/reddit/4chan to my English website.

roddy: I haven't run Adsense in any significant way for years, but China RPM probably ran 30%-60% of US. Which I guess is not that bad.

It may be worth looking at, eg, Baidu's equivalent program.

But what pays in the US may not pay here.

30-60% is indeed not bad at all! Considering there are so many internet users in China, it would still make sense for me to translate into Chinese to get even 10% of the usual AdSense earnings.

May I ask why you stopped running AdSense?

[liuzhou]

There is no Google China, Google left China some years ago.

That will come as a huge surprise to the people in Beijing who still work for Google China.

[Throwshies]

liuzhou, you're in China? Do you mind telling me what you see when you go here and look to the right of the title "One Of The Worst Examples Of Google AdSense Placement That I’ve Seen In A Long Time"? In that spot there is a 300*250 rectangular ad that is served by Google AdSense and I'd really like to have confimed that it works in China, too (showing a locally targeted ad).

[liuzhou]

Not sure what you are after but this is what I see.

{{image deleted}}

[Throwshies]

Thank you! That orange and blue ad for 'Email & Mobile Marketing" you see is what I was curious about. (It is definitely a Google AdSense ad because of the arrow in the top right corner.) It looks like confirmation that AdSense works in China just like everywhere else. Thanks very much for helping me out; I appreciate it!

[liuzhou]

You are welcome. Deleting picture now.

[Throwshies]

Follow-up question: For maximal traffic, should I have my site translated into simplified or traditional Mandarin?

Hoping someone will be so kind as to enlighten me!

[liuzhou]

should I have my site translated into simplified or traditional Mandarin?

Simplified.

Traditional characters are mainly only used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao. The mainland uses simplified and is much much bigger and more populous

[Throwshies]

Simplified Mandarin it is. Thank you again for your help, liuzhou! Virtual hug from Denmark!

[roddy]

Throwshies, how has Adsense worked out for you?

[Throwshies]

Hi roddy, I actually still haven't gotten the Chinese part of my site up and running (other priorities have interfered), but on the English part of my site I've had some visitors from China, and that CPC has averaged $0.08 ranging from $0.02 to $0.11 (based on 42 clicks).

For Hong Kong, the average CPC has been $0.22 ranging from $0.06 to $0.48 (based on 10 clicks).

In comparison, Japan has yielded an average CPC of $0.32 ranging from $0.03 to $1.20 (based on 22 clicks).

Anything else you'd like to know?

[roddy]

Nope, and good luck getting more of those $1.20 clicks

Thanks for the info. In exchange my Adsense CPC for Sept, US vs China, was £0.68 vs £0.09. Geography matters.

[Throwshies]

£0.68 on average for the US? That's more than three times what I got - only £0.21 here (also during September).

But then my site isn't really related to any products (i.e. it's not like a travel blog where people might be prone to buy plane tickets/hotel, or a fashion blog where people might be prone to buy clothes online), so advertisement is pretty random. I've never seen an ad that actually related to my site's content, so it's no wonder that the clicks I do get probably don't generate many sales on the advertiser's sites. I figure that's why my CPC is fairly low.

Good luck with your site too!

Come to think of it, what was your Page CTR for the US? Mine was 0.87%.

[roddy]

My adsense placements are rubbish, so I wouldn't even bother looking at my Adsense CTR.

[Santosh]

do still Google ads run in China?

i saw the no. of  internet users in China so that i’ve thought to target China for upcoming days, 

and do our sites from foreign countries gets display there in China?

can we rank our articles there in China even Google is banned there?