Sohu and ChinaRen had negotiated earlier this year, but when the two sides could not agree on a valuation, talks broke off. When Nasdaq's correction in earlier changed the criteria for valuations, things changed, and with its own Nasdaq stock in hand, Sohu was in a position to deal. Zhang has no intention of slowing down. Becoming indispensable in China will likely mean a jump to mobile phones and other wireless devices, which may soon be the Internet device of choice for Chinese users. He sees the move to mobile as a chance to monetize his audience.
Customers agree to pay a small fee per message.
The willingness and ability of Chinese mobile subscribers to use services billed to their fixed-line and mobile bills provides an easy payment solution in a society viewed as being resistant to credit card use and online payment. China's wireless service providers, China Mobile and China Unicom, are also better prepared to face the task than their fixed-line predecessors. He said the mobile providers are willing to share revenue for content and services, something the state-owned ISPs were not interested in doing. Acquisition may be the company buzzword now, but monetization is Sohu's goal for the future.