When the market entered an era of存量, the golden age of blindly purchasing traffic to boost GMV has long since faded. Advertisers' anxiety is palpable: budgets are shrinking, yet the demand for results has become almost苛刻.
Beneath the frozen ground of traffic, an undercurrent is surging with疯狂 intensity.
In stark contrast to the overall market's疲软, the AI marketing sector is expanding at an astonishing rate. Data from iResearch indicates that the AI marketing market size will突破 85 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year growth of 127%. A survey by consulting firm Capgemini reveals that 79% of marketing technology investments are flowing into AI.
This赛道 has achieved翻倍式的 growth in just a few years. Following the peak in traffic, tech giants are now attempting to重塑 the marketing "money-printing press" with AI.
The scent of硝烟 has never been so浓烈. Alimama, Ocean Engine, Tencent Advertising, and Baidu Marketing have all, almost unanimously, placed their bets entirely on AI. From using AI to mine红利 in short dramas and mini-games to optimizing recommendation algorithms, the场内玩家 are deploying技巧层出不穷.
Amid this混战, Baidu has chosen a more彻底 path: it aims to改变 the way users interact with the internet.
Zhang Lihong, Baidu's head of commercial products, stated that the core change in advertising today lies in the fact that users now have more choices, and their demands themselves are more diverse. Traditional hard-sell ads are no longer acceptable to users.
A noteworthy detail is that users now have higher expectations for search results. Previously, users might search for "Logitech mouse," but now they directly search using relevant玩家黑话. Traditional keyword advertising often struggles with these vague, colloquial, and even emotionally charged slang terms,只能生硬地推给用户 a bunch of links containing the word "mouse."
However, Baidu sees this precisely as an opportunity. Zhao Xin, head of Baidu's Merchant Agent product, stated that through the large model-driven "Merchant Agent," today's search engines can not only understand the "黑话" but also, like a knowledgeable shopping guide,反问 users about their deeper intentions, thereby completing the闭环 from "inquiry" to "order placement." This change in interaction marks a fundamental shift in marketing logic: internet advertising has finally evolved from static display to active service.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel the impact of this AI marketing technological变革 most deeply.
Imagine a small law firm with only three to five people. The困境 they face is both现实 and无奈: fierce competition for cases, and a large volume of incoming咨询电话 are often无效. Lawyers are疲于奔命 answering repetitive questions like "civil or criminal case?" or "what is the amount involved?"
Zhao Xin mentioned that for such SMEs lacking online marketing experience, the AI Agent恰好 becomes that tireless "front desk," capable of automatically screening intentions and lowering the营销的门槛.
Now, a lawyer Agent can perform initial case梳理 and intention分层 like a real person, even automatically assessing the potential case value based on the user's responses. For simple consultations, the Agent provides answers directly; for major cases, it guides the client to leave contact information or even directly schedules an appointment with a lawyer.
For scenarios involving difficult-to-understand dialects or不便 typing, Baidu has also launched a "Voice Agent." Zhang Lihong added that in B2B scenarios, many clients are both老板 and投手. They often struggle to understand咨询电话 full of方言. The Voice Agent can accurately recognize dialects and transcribe them, perfectly solving the痛点 of "can't understand" and "too busy to handle."
Data feedback is the most direct. Zhang Lihong revealed internal test data: in traditional manual customer service scenarios, the开口率 is typically only 5%-6%. After the接管 by this emotionally extremely stable Merchant Agent, the开口率 doubled directly.
For those micro-enterprise owners who are "投手即老板," this is not just about cost reduction but also an empowerment of capabilities. Zhang Lihong emphasized that Baidu's "极简投放" strategy is precisely designed to capture these SMEs with极高换血率—they don't need to understand complex large model parameters; AI tools help them through the most difficult冷启动期.
Reflecting on the past year's exploration, Zhang Lihong used the phrase "from pain to happiness" to describe the process of enterprises embracing AI.
"It was painful at the beginning," she admitted. The forced integration of technology caused discomfort. Technical staff worried that development models would need complete重塑, product managers were concerned about large model hallucinations, unsure how to make previously static strategies dynamic. Business owners also distrusted this "black box," sometimes feeling the AI客服 was "智障,"只会说车轱辘话.
The strategy then was "广撒网," trying out AI's potential in all aspects. But the转折点 occurred the moment the data started proving successful. When the first hundred pioneering clients discovered that漏斗数据 had genuinely improved and lead costs had actually decreased, confidence began to build.
Currently, over 30,000 merchants are already using Baidu's Merchant Agent daily. Beyond the Agent, AI数字人 is another爆发点. IDC data points to惊人 growth in the digital human market for 2025. At Baidu, these are not just tools for e-commerce livestreaming but have become神器 for lead generation and information retention.
The business world of 2025 is undergoing a剧烈转型 from seeking红利 to competing on内功.
Structural红利 are often just short-cycle "小确幸." Once discovered, they are instantly leveled by countless competitors using the same AI tools. As buying traffic for growth becomes history, business owners are forced to start thinking about more fundamental questions: my budget investment must not only换来 a click but also换来 a deep经营连接.
In this sense, the "Agent" promoted by Baidu Marketing is not merely a marketing product; it更像 an interface for enterprises to access the future business world.
Other场内玩家 also have their own尝试. ByteDance's Ocean Engine remains an aggressive "traffic hunter," using AI to疯狂挖掘 new growth in short dramas and mini-games, attempting to combat growth anxiety with content红利. Alimama死磕 "operational certainty,"融合 e-commerce knowledge with推理能力 through AI to try and精准预判 every user purchase. Tencent Advertising opts to build生态高墙, leveraging AI to integrate touchpoints like WeChat and Channels, meticulously managing every inch of存量 within its vast私域流量池.
On this new千亿级赛道, old kings may fall, but new legends are being written by those pioneers who skillfully wield AI. This might be the most残酷, yet also the most迷人, moment in商业史.
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