China’s Online Market: Google top Searches for May

Forget about politics and social unrest, Google China’s monthly top search queries for May are all about pop culture. Singer Kristy Zhang (张含韵) captured the top spot to become the Middle Kingdom’s most popular search term, up from 6th in April. “Two Butterflies” (两只蝴蝶), the latest hit from heart and chart breaker Pang Long (庞龙) came in second. Next on the list are a bestselling novel, “Legend of a soldier” (小兵传奇), and screen beauty Liu Yifei (刘亦菲).

Closing the top 5 is the local term for blog or weblog (博客). The Chinese Government reacted quickly to the growing interest in privately produced content, and the last few weeks were not easy for local bloggers: TypePad blogs are once again inaccessible from China, and blogs run by Microsoft in China are censored for “offensive” terms such as “democracy” and “freedom”. In addition, the Chinese Government now requires all webmasters to register with the Ministry of Information Industry, or else.

Another marketing plot, “Mother’s Day” (母亲节), ranked 6th. At number 7, up from 9 last month, is Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, who will visit the mainland this month. Hong Kong singer Lin Zi Xian’s (林子祥) “Who Do You Love The Most” (你到底爱谁) came 8th, followed by actress Lin Zhi Ling (林志玲) and singer Zhou Bi Chang (周笔畅).