China has introduced a tougher regulation to take a firmer grip on the country's internet advertising¹ industry following the death of a college student, who sought treatment for his disease on online search giant Baidu Inc.

在一名大学生通过搜索巨头百度寻求治疗疾病而死亡之后，中国近日正式推出了一项更严厉的监管措施，以更坚定的控制我国互联网广告行业。

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce released a new internet advertising regulation on its website. The regulation, which takes effect on Sept 1, has made it clear for the first time that China now considers all pay-for-performance searches as advertising.

国家工商行政管理总局(工商总局)日前在其官网上发布了一项互联网广告新规。这项新规将于9月1日施行，其中首次明确我国现将所有的按效付费搜索界定为广告

Zhang Guohua, head of the advertisement department at the administration, said that search results displayed on online search engines and e-commerce platforms were considered as advertisements as long as their rankings were influenced by financial factors rather than appearing in their order of relevance² to search terms.

工商总局广告司司长张国华表示，在线搜索引擎和电子商务平台上显示的搜索结果，只要它们的排名是由财务因素所影响，而不是按照相关搜索条款的顺序出现的，那么就会被认为是广告。

All paid online listings needed to be labeled as "advertisements" as of Sept 1. "Some of them are labeled as 'promotions³' right now, which are not in line with the new rule," he said.

张国华司长说道，到9月1日，互联网上所有的竞价排名都要标明"广告"。目前有些付费搜索结果标注"推广"，不符合新规要求。

Baidu, which was investigated by the government in May after the death of the student, said in a statement that the Beijing-based company was a strong advocate of the new rule. It said it would continue to crack down on fake and illegal information online.

在一名学生死后，百度公司于5月接受政府的调查。这家总部位于北京的公司在一项声明中表示，自己是该新规的坚决拥护者，并且将继续打击假冒和非法在线信息。

Lu Ronghui, an analyst⁴ with internet consultancy iResearch Consulting Group, said the new rule may not further dampen Baidu's business.

互联网咨询机构艾瑞咨询集团的分析师卢荣辉表示，这一新规可能不会进一步抑制百度的业务。