Baidu Retires Custom Form Creative Component: What Advertisers Need to Know
Baidu regularly retires underperforming or outdated creative components. The latest retirement: the Custom Form (自定义表单) creative component, phased out in July 2024.
For most advertisers, this is a non-event — these components had low conversion rates and were hurting user experience. But if you were using them, here is what to do.
What Is Being Retired
The Custom Form creative component allowed advertisers to embed a form directly in their search ad. Users could fill and submit it without leaving the Baidu search results page.
Baidu found these forms:
- Had low conversion value compared to landing page forms
- Created inconsistent user experiences on the search results page
- Underperformed against other creative types
The Timeline
July 26, 2024: Cannot create new Custom Form or Form components
July 31, 2024: Existing Custom Form components stop displaying. Management portal closes.
What the Retirement Covers
| Component | New Creation | Existing Display | Data Reports | |---|---|---|---| | Custom Form (自定义表单) | ❌ Stopped Jul 26 | ❌ Stops Jul 31 | ✅ 27 months retained | | Form (表单) | ❌ Stopped Jul 26 | Already inactive | ✅ 27 months retained |
Does This Affect Me?
Probably not. This retirement specifically targets:- The "Custom Form" creative component type
- The "Form" creative component type
It does NOT affect:
- Landing page forms (the form on your actual website)
- Lead form extensions
- Other creative components (images, video, call extensions, etc.)
- Your keywords, ad copy, budgets, or bidding
No action required for the vast majority of advertisers.
If You Were Using Custom Forms
🎯 Quick Checklist
- ✅ Check if you have active Custom Form components (most advertisers do not)
- ✅ If yes, export your historical data before July 31
- ✅ Set up a proper landing page with a form — better conversion quality
- ✅ Data reports remain available for 27 months after retirement
Why This Is Good News
Component retirements like this are a platform health signal. Baidu is actively removing low-performing ad formats to improve:
1. User experience on search results pages 2. Conversion prediction accuracy (fewer irrelevant signals) 3. Overall platform quality for remaining ad formats
A platform that never cleans up is a platform that stagnates. This retirement shows Baidu is actively maintaining its ad ecosystem.
What Overseas Advertisers Should Know
For international brands, platform changes like this can go unnoticed. You might not read Chinese product announcements covering component retirements that affect 1% of accounts.
But if you were relying on Custom Forms — perhaps because building a Chinese landing page felt too complex — this retirement means you need a proper landing page.
How BPP Handles This
BPP-managed accounts already use landing pages with forms, not in-ad form components. This retirement has zero impact on our clients.
If you are running Baidu ads yourself and relied on Custom Forms as a workaround to avoid building a Chinese landing page — now is the time to build one. Or talk to us.