Tyrone firm wins multi-million pound Chinese internet deal
A tiny Co Tyrone technology company has cracked the Chinese internet market to win a prestige multi-million pound contract, it was announced today.
Tucked away in Clogher, Microchannel Technologies has developed revolutionary internet software, including some of the world’s most advanced bid management and analytics software for internet search engines.
The specialised software is used by search engine marketing companies and advertising agencies to calculate a client’s return on investment when running traditional and pay-per-click campaigns on the internet.
The multi-million pound contract – the result of an exclusive partnership between Microchannel and international advertising agency neoOgilvy – will see Microchannel become the first approved provider of Search Engine Marketing [SEM] software that can connect to Baidu, China’s leading internet search facility, as well as all other major search engines worldwide.
Barry Lloyd, chief executive of the company established in 2000 said: “With agencies and their clients’ websites in France, Germany, Holland, USA, Canada and the UK already using our SEM software, which is approved by the leading search engines in these countries, the partnership with neoOgilvy will now help us to tap into the vast potential of the Chinese internet market.”
As he celebrated the deal, he added: “China now has more internet users than the US and usage is growing at a rate of 20% each year.
“Indeed the global market on Baidu alone is estimated to be worth approximately £1bn (€1.2bn) in 2008.”
He said by investing in R&D over a number of years the company had managed to place itself in a competitive place in the world’s largest online market.
Invest Northern Ireland has been supporting the company since it was established and Mr Lloyd said their backing had been vital in helping them to create their advanced products and – most importantly – bring them to market.
Ian Murphy of Invest NI said: “Microchannel’s long term investment in research and development has made it a highly respected company in the online search engine management and reporting market.”
Combined with a targeted export marketing strategy, a small team of highly skilled software engineers and Invest NI support, the company had secured a significant level of business across Europe since 2005, he said.
“This new multi-million pound contract in China will bring Microchannel to the forefront of the SEM market, demonstrating how small firms can develop the capacity to compete at the very highest level internationally.”
