China's online advertising market is likely to exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) this year, a research report said.

The figure represents a 114.6 percent increase from the 4.66 billion yuan of last year.

In October, the nation's online advertising revenues hit 870 million yuan, lifting the market size to 7.5 billion yuan in the first ten months, according to the report from Nielsen, a leading global information and media company.

The report noted that China's web advertising market will post faster growth in the coming months as the 2008 Beijing Olympics nears and businesses from home and abroad seek to cash in on the nation's huge purchasing power.

The growth rate of China's online advertising, one of the most successful business models for Internet firms, was higher than that of broadcasting advertising and magazine advertising.

Sina, Netease, QQ, and Sohu, China's four largest Internet portals, are big gainers of the robust online advertising growth. Their total advertising incomes exceeded $100 million for the first time in the third quarter of the year.

The report also shows that entertainment and fast consumable products makers have overtaken financial and property firms as the largest spenders on web advertising.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2007)