Sohu
{{Short description|Chinese Internet company founded in 1996}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Sohu, Inc.
| logo = Sohu logo.png
| logo_size = 160px
| company_type = Public
| traded_as = {{NASDAQ|SOHU}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1996|08}}
| location = {{Plainlist|
}}
| founder = Charles Zhang and Edward Roberts
| key_people = Charles Zhang (president, chairman, CEO)
Carol Yu (CFO)
| industry = Internet
| products = Online services
| revenue = .86 billion USD (2017){{cite web |url=https://mfiles.sohu.com/corp/2017%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=2017 Annual Report |access-date=August 3, 2018}}
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees = 7,098 (December 2012){{cite web |url=http://ir.netease.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=122303&p=irol-faq#43942 |title=Company Profile for Sohu.com Inc (SOHU) |access-date=December 31, 2012}}
| homepage = {{url|https://sohu.com}}
}}
File:Sohu.com Media Plaza (20221018160515).jpg
File:SohudotcomInternetPlaza.JPG
Sohu, Inc. ({{zh|c=搜狐|p=Sōuhú|l=Search-fox}}) is a Chinese Internet company headquartered in the Sohu Internet Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing."[http://corp.sohu.com/contact/ Contact Us]." Sohu. Retrieved on December 27, 2010. "Headquarter Office Sohu.com Internet Plaza, No.1 Park, Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, PRC.""[https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortunefastestgrowing/2009/snapshots/3.html Sohu.com]." CNN Money. Retrieved on August 19, 2009. Sohu and its subsidiaries offer advertising, a search engine (Sogou.com), on-line multiplayer gaming (ChangYou.com) and other services.
History
Sohu was founded as Internet Technologies China (ITC) in 1996 by Charles Zhang after he completed his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received venture capital funding from colleagues he met there.{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/74339.htm|title=Charles Zhang a Confident Man of Action|publisher=China.org.cn|access-date=2020-04-12}} The following year, Zhang changed the name of ITC to Sohoo in homage to Yahoo! after meeting its cofounder, Jerry Yang; the name was soon after changed to Sohu to differentiate it from the American company.{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Kai-Fu |author-link=Kai-Fu Lee |title=AI Superpowers |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |date=September 25, 2018 |isbn=9781328546395 |page=31}} Sohu has been listed on NASDAQ since 2000 through a variable interest entity (VIE) based in Delaware.{{cite web |title=Sohu.com Announces Stockholder Approval of Proposed Reorganization |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sohucom-announces-stockholder-approval-of-proposed-reorganization-300655614.html |website=CISION |access-date=8 September 2019}}{{cite web|title=Sohu denied rumors of Nasdaq delisting|url=http://blogs.barrons.com/emergingmarketsdaily/2013/03/06/sohu-denies-buyout-speculation-shares-plummet-8/|publisher=Barrons.com | last=Levisohn | first=Ben | date=March 6, 2013}}
Sohu's Sogou.com search engine was in talks to be sold in July 2013 to Qihoo for around $1.4 billion.{{cite web| title=Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions | work=Reuters| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL4N0FP2EM20130719| date=19 July 2013}} On September 17, 2013, it was announced that Tencent has invested $448 million for a minority share in Chinese search engine Sogou.com, the subsidiary of Sohu, Inc.{{cite web|title=Tencent invested $448 million in Chinese search engine Sogou|url=http://ceoworld.biz/2013/09/17/chinese-tencent-is-now-worth-almost-twice-as-much-as-baidu-close-to-facebook|publisher=CEOWORLD Magazine | last=Aitken | first=Todd | date=17 September 2013}}
Sohu was ranked as the world's third- and twelfth-fastest growing company by Fortune in 2009 and 2010, respectively.{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortunefastestgrowing/2009/snapshots/3.html|title=The World's 3rd Fastest-Growing Company In 2009|work=Fortune magazine}}{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortunefastestgrowing/2010/snapshots/12.html|title=The World's 12th Fastest-Growing Company In 2010|work=Fortune magazine}}
Allegations against Google
On April 6, 2007, Sohu made a request that Google stop providing its Google Pinyin Input Method Editor software for download because portions of Sohu's IME software, Sogou Pinyin, were allegedly copied in order to construct it.{{cite news| first=Sumner |last=Lemon |title=Rival Asks Google to Yank 'Copycat' Application |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130497-c,google/article.html |work=PC World|publisher=IDG|date=April 8, 2007|access-date=April 11, 2007}} The detection of the alleged copyright infringement was found due to a suspicious error found in both IMEs, notably the translation of the pinyin "pinggong" which erroneously produces the actor and comedian Feng Gong.{{cite news| first=Sumner |last=Lemon |title=Google Evades Question About Software Similarities|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130459-c,techindustrytrends/article.html|work=PC World|publisher=IDG|date=April 6, 2007|access-date=April 11, 2007}} On April 9, 2007, Google's spokesman Cui Jin has admitted that the pinyin Google IME "was built leveraging some non-Google database resources."{{cite news| first=Sumner |last=Lemon |title=Google Admits Using Outside Source for Chinese App |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130502-c,copyright/article.html|work=PC World|publisher=IDG|date=April 9, 2007|access-date=April 11, 2007}}
2008 Olympic Games website
In November 2005, Sohu was selected to be the Official Internet Content Service Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Sohu was provided exclusive services to construct, operate and host the official Beijing Olympics website.{{cite web|url=https://www.chinatechnews.com/2005/11/07/3114-sohucom-to-run-website-for-beijing-2008-olympic-games/|title=Sohu.com to run website for Beijing 2008 Olympic games|work=ChinaTechNews.com|access-date=November 7, 2005}}
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{Official website}} {{in lang|zh}}
{{Chinese Web portals}}
{{Video digital distribution platforms}}
{{Chinese Internet video website}}
{{Portal bar|China|Companies|Internet}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Internet technology companies of China
Category:Companies based in Beijing
Category:1996 establishments in China
Category:Internet properties established in 1996