Chinese search engine technology company Baidu Inc. confirmed that it has opened its certification system to the public and the company aims to enhance training of professional Internet marketing talents.
Baidu's certification is a full search engine marketing professional certification launched by the company. Over the past two years, Baidu certification system apparently trained over 3,000 Internet marketing talents for its clients and agents. However, the talent supply in this sector is still not enough due to the explosive growth of Internet marketing in China.
To meet the demand, Baidu benevolently announced that it will open its certification system to the entire Chinese society. Meanwhile, it will cooperate with Chinese universities, professional educational institutions, industrial associations, and well-know enterprises to jointly launch a talent training alliance project.
A representative from Baidu explained to local media that Baidu's certification system is divided into four classes and it mainly targets Internet marketing practitioners and those who want to join this industry. The professional training is expected to help them improve knowledge and skills about marketing concepts, data analysis, account implementation and management, search engine optimization, and search engine marketing.
According to a recent report jointly released by Baidu and 51job.com, in 2012, China's demand for Internet marketing talents is about 1.16 million; however about 550,000 to 650,000 positions will not be fulfilled. In the next three years, the demand will still grow at a speed of 30%.