• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 8, 2012

Search expert Tao Zhang joined Covario from Baidu in February to support North American companies that want to expand paid-search campaigns internationally. The account director for the digital marketing agency based on Beijing said he aims to help U.S. companies understand the cultural differences that can hinder success in the country.

Zhang hopes to teach U.S. companies the search "rules" in China to serve international clients.

Baidu's Phoenix Nest and Google's AdWords paid-search platforms are similar, Zhang said. The biggest difference is reflected in how the ads serve up and appear in search engine results. Ads appearing on Baidu can blend into query results, almost similar in appearance to the organic listing, because they are not highlighted. Sometimes people can't tell the difference, Zhang said.

Phoenix Nest, Baidu's search platform, has become more automated. It supports bidding, impressions, and quality scores similar to Google AdWords. The Phoenix bird is symbolic of the need to build a nest to attract good fortune and money, according to Zhang.

When asked about Baidu's mobile strategy, Zhang said the search company will take its time in watching the Chinese market. He estimates that Chinese search marketing strategies are four years behind the United States. "Search engine marketing has become popular on the desktop, but not yet mobile," he said.

Baidu did release a mobile application at the end of 2011, he said, but in general mobile apps in China are about two years behind the U.S. Chinese companies have not yet figured out how to build a successful social network platform, he said.