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Alibaba Wants to Acquire Yahoo
11
Oct
Oct
Jack Ma, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, recently confirmed his strong interest in buying US Internet giant Yahoo, during a speech in a conference entitled "China's 2.0: Transforming Media and Commerce" at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The video is really worth watching since Jack Ma also talks about ecommerce, notably about his companies Alibaba and Taobao, and explained how these company have succeeded, the mistakes they have made and the difficulties they now face.
Here is the full video:
Yahoo currently owns 40% of Alibaba while Alibaba owns Yahoo China. Last year, Alibaba acquired an US ecommerce website named Vendio and bought shares in Sogou, a Chinese search engine.
Microsoft Joins Alibaba to Test New Search Service
14
Oct
Oct
Microsoft and Alibaba testing Etao search engine
As we wrote in one of our previous posts, China's giant eCommerce site Alibaba recently launched a new beta shopping search engine, named Etao.
Microsoft takes part in the test since Etao site combines both Alibaba's shopping search engine and a Chinese version of Bing.
Search results are displayed in several groups : first, Taobao listings, then links to related online forums, and finally informational websites and web search results provided by Bing.
Winhi.net, Microsoft’s new partner in China
Microsoft also recently announced that it teamed up with Shenzhen-based web-hosting and eCommerce site Winhi.net to jointly promote Bing in China.
The one-year strategic agreement makes Winhi.net Bing's exclusive agency in Guangdong.
Microsoft clearly wants to take avantage of Winhi.net's experience in the Chinese eCommerce and online promotion fields. It is important to note that Winhi.net has over 30,000 quality SMS enterprise clients.
Microsoft wants to boost Bing’s market share in China
Even if Baidu outclasses China's search market with a 70% market share, there are some shares to grab for other search engines, notably after Google’s episodes in China.
Indeed, the US search engine's market share fell from 31% in Q1 to 24% in Q2 according to Beijing-based market research firm Analysys International. China’s overall search engine market reached approximately CNY 4.6 billion.
Bing has currently only 2.4% of the market. Will Microsoft’s partnerships with Chinese firms be enough to boost Bing’s market share in China ?
Alibaba buys shares in Sogou search engine
10
Aug
Aug
China's No.2 Internet portal Sohu will sell 32% of its Sogou search engine to investors, including top Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba Group.
Sohu sells shares of its Sogou search engine
Sohu will actually sell 16% to Alibaba Group, parent of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com and Yunfeng fund, co-founded by Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, and another 16% to a fund invested by Sohu Chairman Charles Zhang. The remaining 68% of Sogou will be held by Sohu.
When it launched Sogou, Sohu had big hopes for its wholly-owned search engine, but it has failed to gain market share against Baidu and Google during the past few years. The deal with Sohu will help Alibaba expand in the nation’s $1 billion search-engine market.
However, an alliance with Alibaba could help its prospects, as Alibaba currently prohibits Baidu from cataloging material from its eCommerce pages in its search results.
Sogou is China's third-biggest search engine
According to data from iResearch, Sogou is China’s third-biggest search engine service, though its market share of 0.8% last quarter is a fraction of Baidu’s 71%, and the 27% share held by Google.
Alibaba doesn't seem to really believe in the search potential of Yahoo! China that it entirely owns. It actually pitched Yahoo! China site as an entertainment-oriented portal. By the way, we were wondering last week whether Yahoo! China would team up with a search partner.
Alibaba is favoring Sohu’s search service even though it has the option of adopting rival technologies like Microsoft's Bing. Indeed, even if Microsoft and Yahoo! joined forces to create a search alliance, local Yahoo! sites which aren't wholly owned by Yahoo! Inc. can choose a search partner on their own. For example, do you remember that Yahoo! Japan has recently chosen Google as search partner?
Alibaba acquires US ecommerce site Vendio
25
Jun
Jun
Top China's online B2B platform Alibaba.com agreed to acquire Vendio, a US provider of e-commerce services.
Vendio Services: the US Alibaba
Vendio provides a software-as-a-service eCommerce technology platform offering the same Internet business services in the US as Alibaba.com connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world.
Small retailers can operate their own web store as well as build links to sell through other channels such as eBay.com, Amazon.com and several comparison shopping engines.
The start-up already hosts services for 80,000 small U.S. businesses which can now link into Alibaba's network of buyers and suppliers.
The deal is expected to be closed next month. Vendio will continue to operate under its own name as a unit of Alibaba.com.
Alibaba.com to expand abroad
By acquiring Vendio, Alibaba.com will reinforce its wholesale business supplier network by adding tens of thousands of retailers and expand its business model to provide retail e-commerce technology and services to US merchants.
Alibaba.com’s first major US acquisition may be a first step to expand globally. By expanding abroad, Alibaba is following the example of Rakuten which recently entered the European market through the acquisition of French eCommerce leader PriceMinister.
Alibaba.com is the listed unit of the Alibaba Group. A few weeks ago, Alibaba Group established a small loan company to lend money to Chinese SMEs.
Alibaba creates loan company for Chinese SMEs
17
Jun
Jun
China's B2B eCommerce group Alibaba established a small loan company in Zhejiang to lend money to its sourcing and procurement clients.
Alibaba launches small loan company
Alibaba Group which owns several sites such as alibaba.com, taobao.com and alipay.com will offer financial services in order to provide loans up to CNY500,000 to online shop entrepreneurs and SMEs in Zhejiang province.
Many entrepreneurs and SMEs operating on Alibaba Group's platforms face financial problems although their financial needs are small amounts however necessary to grow their business.
Alibaba isn't new in financial services
Alibaba Group has already experience in financial services to SMEs in China.
In June 2007, the group established a partnership with China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to provide loans to SMEs.
Over the past three years, Alibaba and the two banks have jointly provided almost CNY13 billion loans to SMEs.
Alibaba Group's e-retailer Taobao and Yahoo! Japan have recently joined forces to launch a cross-border eCommerce hub.
