2008-04-29 09:01:17 - China's third-biggest Web Sohu portal (NASDAQ:SOHU) , posted a fivefold gain in profit, beating analysts' estimates and sending the shares surging after boosting online advertising sales.

Net income climbed to $21.6 million from $4.5 million a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said. Sohu was expected to post profit of $14.7 million, according to the median of eight analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Buzz Technologies Inc (OTC:BZTG) is set to capture an important part of Asia's online ad market with a targeted attack on key publishers. Buzz will be releasing new revenue estimates after the rollout.

Sohu's shares climbed 14 percent to $70.50 as at 8:06 a.m. local time in New York, in trading before the Nasdaq Stock Market opened. The stock had gained 13 percent this year till its close on April 25, compared with a 6.2 percent increase in the period for larger rival Sina

(NASDAQ:SINA) Corp.

Suho Sales more than doubled to $84.8 million, exceeding the $68.5 million median of 11 analyst estimates. Earnings per share was 55 cents, compared with 12 cents a year earlier. Buzz has already predicted 2009 sales above $120m

Companies may spend 25 percent more on ads in China this year than they did in 2007, according to estimates by GroupM Inc., a unit of WPP Group Plc, the world's second-biggest advertising company. China may contribute 21 percent of new ad spending worldwide this year, the most of any nation, GroupM said.
The Beijing Olympics, scheduled to start in August, may record an ``all-time high'' in attendance as Chinese people flock to the games, according to Ogilvy Group, also a unit of WPP. China passed the U.S. this year to become the world's biggest Internet market by users, Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said in Beijing last month.

The Asian nation was home to 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007, more than the combined populations of France, Germany and the U.K., according the China Network Information Center, a government agency that licenses online domain names.

Google predicted Thailand would see an explosion of spending on online and search-related advertising that would be worth an estimated $250 million (7.88 billion baht), according to Google's regional managing director for Australia, NZ, Korea and Southeast Asia Richard Kimber who sees a very strong future for Google in Thailand.