[photopress:Yahoo_social_space.jpg,full,alignright]Yahoo China, which is run by Alibaba which in turn is China’s largest e-commerce firm, has launched a social networking service. This neatly trumps Rupert Murdoch whose stated intention is to launch My Space (owned by News Inc which is basically Rupert Murdoch and a lot of complaint shareholders) in China later this year. It will, as a result, probably be like a quotation from Under Milkwood: ‘Too late, cock. Too late.’
The new site is called Yahoo Space. The URL is i.yahoo.com.cn and the site is firmly labeled as being in a beta state of testing. This may be an idea copied from Google which appears to think two years is a good maturing period for a better site.
In a sense, it is a revised version of Yahoo 360, and Yahoo Group. So it combines existing services like an online photo album and instant messenger with new functions like video and audio chatting. In other words it pushes it firmly into the My Space area which has swept everything before it in the United States but may not make it so easily in China.
Zeng Ming, Yahoo China president, said he believed that the community-oriented service will increase users’ loyalty and the number of users through word-of-mouth promotion. Since a public trial in February, Yahoo Space has drawn in more than 1.3 million users.
Yahoo China, which was taken over by Zhejiang-based Alibaba in 2005, has been revamping its business since. Its search business has been losing market share to Baidu.com and was overtaken by Google Inc last year.
Last year Beijing-based Baidu launched its blogging service, named Baidu Kongjian, or Baidu Space. It should be a right royal battle all round.
Source: Shanghai Daily