Growth Strategies Case Study

Sohu.com: The Growth Strategies

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Abstract:
Sohu.com is China's leading web portal and directory. Through partnerships and continuous innovation in services, Sohu turned into the premier destination for Chinese Internet users and advertisers. But the company incurred significant net losses since its inception. To move towards profitability it changed the business strategy from on-line advertising to selling services such as on-line games, dating services, e marketing, e-subscriptions and e-commerce, targeting individual consumers and other value added services.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To highlight the evolution of Sohu, and the growth strategies it followed to address the challenges in the existing and emerging web services business.

Keywords : Sohu; Sina; Internet; China IT industry; Growth Strategies Case Study; Paid searches; Charles Zhang; Internet statistics; Growth strategy; On-line games; Internet advertising; e-Commerce; NetEase; Web portals; Yahoo; Google

Contents : 
Evolution of Sohu
The Setbacks
Competitive Landscape
Future Plans
Sohu’s Product Offerings and Channels
Sohu’s Products and Services
Sohu’s Real Time Web Cast: Examples
Sohu and Competitors: Net Sales