The trouble with US-listed Chinese internet stocks is that they exist in the shadow of Baidu, the country’s leading search engine. Take Sohu, the online media group and the fourth biggest Chinese internet stock listed in the US. Its 20 per cent share price gain this year was almost reversed overnight on Monday when chief executive Charles Zhang said net income in the fourth quarter plunged by two-fifths year on year, and gave a modest forecast for first quarter advertising revenue.

These problems look to be short-term. Most of Sohu’s profit fall was the result of $27m of impairment charge (it clearly overpaid for recent acquisitions). Advertising growth was understated because most of the sales force were on holiday (an earlier than usual Chinese New Year). Overall, online advertising remains one of the sweetest spots in China’s economy. This made up two-fifths of Sohu’s total sales last year and outpaced online games growth.

Helped by tough competition among newly capitalised ecommerce sites, online advertising sales in China jumped by 80 per cent last year, 22 times faster than the global average. This growth has a way to go because it makes up less than one-tenth of China’s Rmb600bn advertising spend. Key word search takes the biggest slice; Sohu’s sales here more than tripled in its fourth quarter thanks to its easy-to-use Sogou (search dog) web browser.