For her part, Xu Jinglei recalls that she was initially unenthusiastic about accepting Sina's invitation.

"At first, I wasn't interested at all. However, they called me many times, and eventually I felt that it wasn't such a bad idea to share my thoughts on-line with my audience. This blog is just another form of expression. Additionally, this is of course a good way to promote myself, since Sina is a very influential web portal in China, and enjoys a tremendous number of browsers every day. "

While actress Xu Jinglei liked the idea of free promotion on Sina, Sina also liked the idea of attracting web-users with the popularity of Xu Jinglei. But as the first in China to surpass ten million hits, Xu Jinglei's on-line diary now seems worth more than just a little free publicity.  So, the question naturally arises, how much is her blog really worth?   Frontline will be right back after this short break.

Hong Bo started to write his blog three years ago. Unlike Xu Jinglei, a showbiz figure, Hong Bo is an expert in the field of IT.  Therefore, the articles on his blog have very much an IT focus, with news on the latest innovations as well as market analysis. Currently, the one and only advertisement on his blog comes from a technology-specific website, from which Hong Bo receives an unspecified sum. Hong explains his expectations concerning adverts for Xu Jinglei's blog:

"Xu Jinglei is from the entertainment world. People who are interested in her blog are different from my visitors, who are mostly IT people. As we always say, blogs bring together like-minded people. Fans of Xu Jinglei are most likely interested in digital products, automobiles, luxury foodstuffs and brand-name cosmetics. A technological or stock-oriented company would hesitate before putting ads on her blog."

In making these comments, Hong Bo shows exactly why advertising company are interested in blogs, with clearly divided audiences allowing for effective targeting of consumer markets.