China tightens controls on paid-for Internet search ads

Placing limits: Chinese regulators have curbed the number of healthcare adverts carried by Baidu Inc following the death of a student.

China's Internet regulator said that search engines should tighten management of paid-for ads in search results, making clear which results are paid-for and limiting their numbers.

Chinese regulators last month imposed limits on the number of lucrative healthcare adverts carried by Baidu Inc following the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment which he found using China's biggest Internet search engine.