Sohu.com (SOHU)

Competition

The Internet and Internet-related markets in China are relatively new and rapidly evolving. There are many companies in the domestic and international markets that distribute online content, online game, and value-added telecommunications services targeting Chinese users. We now are facing more intense competition from both domestic and international competitors for providing content and services over the Internet, including brand advertising, content, community tools, search engines, web directories, online game and wireless services.

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Competition

The Internet and Internet-related markets in China are relatively new and rapidly evolving. There are many companies in the domestic and international markets that distribute online content, value-added telecommunications services targeting Chinese users. We now are facing more intense competition from both domestic and international competitors for providing content and services over the Internet, including brand advertising, content, community tools, search engines, web directories, online games and wireless services. For example, there are a number of existing or new PRC Internet portals, including those controlled or sponsored by private and PRC government entities. As an Internet portal, we compete with these portals, including but not limited to Sina, Tencent and Netease, and vertical sites, such as PColine and SouFun. Our search engine faces intense competition from software and other Internet products and services incorporating search and retrieval capabilities, such as Baidu, Google, Yahoo! China and SoSo. We compete with other pure-play online games developers and operators including but not limited to Shanda, The9, Perfect World, Giant Interactive, Netdragon and Kingsoft; and pure-play wireless services providers, such as Tom Online, KongZhong, Linktone and Hurray!. In addition, we compete with operators of global leading Websites or Internet service providers, including Yahoo!, Microsoft/MSN and AOL, currently offer, and could expand, their online products and services targeting China. These sites and companies compete with us for visitor traffic, advertising dollars, Internet services, game players spending, wireless services and potential partners.

In the PRC Internet market, competition is intense and is expected to increase significantly in the future because there are no substantial barriers to entry in our market. Our competitors may have certain competitive advantages over us in terms of:

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We compete with other portals in China primarily on the following basis:

Our existing competitors may in the future achieve greater market acceptance and gain additional market share. It is also possible that new competitors may emerge and acquire significant market share. We believe the rapid increase in China’s online population will draw more attention from these multinational players to the PRC Internet market. We also compete with traditional forms of media — such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television — for advertisers, advertising revenues and content. Some of these traditional media have extended their businesses into the Internet market such as CCTV.com and XinHuaNet. Accordingly, we will face more intense competition with traditional media companies in both their traditional media, and in the Internet-related markets.

Competition

The Internet and Internet-related markets in China are relatively new and rapidly evolving. There are many companies in the domestic and international markets that distribute online content, value-added telecommunications services targeting Chinese users. We now are facing more intense competition from both domestic and international competitors for providing content and services over the Internet, including brand advertising, content, community tools, search engines, web directories, wireless services and online games. For example, there are a number of existing or new PRC Internet portals, including those controlled or sponsored by private and PRC government entities. As an Internet portal, we compete with these portals, including but not limited to Sina, Tencent, Netease and Tom Online, and vertical sites, such as SouFun. Our search engine faces intense competition from software and other Internet products and services incorporating search and retrieval capabilities, such as Baidu, ZhongSou, Google and Yahoo! China. In addition, we compete with pure-play services providers, such as, KongZhong and Linktone; operators of global leading Websites or Internet service providers, including Yahoo!, Microsoft/MSN and AOL; and other online games operators including Shanda and The9, currently offer, and could expand, their online products and services targeting China. These sites compete with us for visitor traffic, advertising dollars, Internet services, wireless services and potential partners.

In the PRC Internet market, competition is intense and is expected to increase significantly in the future because there are no substantial barriers to entry in our market. Our competitors may have certain competitive advantages over us in terms of:

We compete with other portals in China primarily on the following basis:

Our existing competitors may in the future achieve greater market acceptance and gain additional market share. It is also possible that new competitors may emerge and acquire significant market share. We believe the rapid increase in China’s online population will draw more attention from these multinational players to the PRC Internet market. We also compete with traditional forms of media — such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television — for advertisers, advertising revenues and content. Some of these traditional media have extended their businesses into the Internet market such as CCTV.com and XinHuaNet. Accordingly, we will face more intense competition with traditional media companies in both their traditional media, and in the Internet-related markets.

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Competition

There are many companies that distribute online content and services targeting Chinese users. We compete with distributors of content and services over the Internet, including Web directories, search engines, content sites, Internet service providers and sites maintained by government and educational institutions. These sites compete with us for visitor traffic, advertising dollars, wireless services, e-commerce transactions and potential partners. The Internet market in China is relatively new and rapidly evolving. Competition is intense and is expected to increase significantly in the future because there are no substantial barriers to entry in our market.

We have many competitors in the PRC Internet market, including Sina, Netease, Tecent, Baidu, Tom Online, KongZhong, Linktone, Shanda, Google and Yahoo! China. In addition, there are a number of existing or new PRC Internet portals, including those controlled or sponsored by PRC government entities. These private and government sponsored competitors may have certain competitive advantages over us in terms of:

We compete with other portals in China primarily on the following basis:

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Our existing competitors may in the future achieve greater market acceptance and gain additional market share. It is also possible that new competitors may emerge and acquire significant market share. In particular, our search engine faces intense competition from software and other Internet products and services incorporating search and retrieval capabilities, such as Baidu, Google and Yahoo! China. In addition, operators of leading Websites or Internet service providers, including Yahoo!, Microsoft/MSN and America Online, currently offer, and could expand, their online products and services targeting China. We believe the rapid increase in China’s online population will draw more attention from these multinational players to the PRC Internet market. We also compete with traditional forms of media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television, for advertisers and advertising revenues. Please refer to “Risk Factors” for a more detailed discussion of the risks we face from our competitors.

Competition

There are many companies that distribute online content and services targeting Chinese users. We compete with distributors of content and services over the Internet, including Web directories, search engines, content sites, Internet service providers and sites maintained by government and educational institutions. These sites compete with us for visitor traffic, advertising dollars, wireless services, e-commerce transactions and potential partners. The Internet market in China is new and rapidly evolving. Competition is intense and is expected to increase significantly in the future because there are no substantial barriers to entry in our market.

We have many competitors in the PRC Internet market, including Netease, Sina Corporation, Tom Online, Yahoo! China, KongZhong, Linktone, Shanda, Google, Baidu and Tencent. In addition, there are a number of existing or new PRC Internet portals, including those controlled or sponsored by PRC government entities. These competitors may have certain competitive advantages over us in terms of:

We compete with other portals in China for advertising, wireless and e-commerce revenues primarily on the following basis:

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Our existing competitors may in the future achieve greater market acceptance and gain additional market share. It is also possible that new competitors may emerge and acquire significant market share. In particular, our search engine faces intensive competition from software and other Internet products and services incorporating search and retrieval capabilities, such as Google, Yahoo! China and Baidu. In addition, operators of leading Websites or Internet service providers, including large corporations such as Yahoo!, Microsoft/MSN and America Online, currently offer, and could expand, their online products and services targeting China. We believe the rapid increase in China’s online population will draw more attention from these multinational players to the PRC Internet market. We also compete with traditional forms of media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television, for advertisers and advertising revenues. Please refer to “Risk Factors” for a more detailed discussion of the risks we face from our competitors.