• by December 11, 2000

The first report examining Internet advertising in Asia was released today, announcing an estimated $166.3 million was spent for online advertising in November. This report was issued by AdZone Interactive, an advertising research firm that tracks advertising on more than 125,000 sites worldwide.

Already tracking advertising value on the Internet in the U.S., Europe and the U.K, AdZone began auditing online advertising in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand to cover the Asian market.

Oftentimes in the past, AdZone has been faulted for being overly optimistic in their findings and predictions, nevertheless, Sohu.com was the number one ranked website, with estimated revenue of $38 million. Cis.com.cn and chinaren.com were number two and three at $26.7 million and $21.5 million respectively.

The top advertised brand was compaq.com.cn, with an estimated advertising value of $38.2 million, followed by media999.com which received advertising valued at approximately $27.1 million. The number three brand, chinabba.com.cn, had a significantly lower budget, estimated at $6.7 million.

"With the growth of on-line advertising and with businesses becoming more global, there is definitely a need to see the value of the Internet in other economies. It is exciting to expand our research capabilities to offer information on a broad landscape," said John Cardona, president of AdZone Interactive.

AdZone plans to announce coverage of Latin America at the start of 2001, as part of its goal to offer their customers advertising intelligence on a global scale.