Rich Fiscus
11 Jul 2007 10:22
SOHU.COM, China's third-largest Internet portal, will upgrade its eight-million-member blog channel.
The updated version, to be launched next month in a big gala of Sohu bloggers in a park in Beijing, will allow users to upload their own videos and share with others, who don't have to download any extra software to play the clips.
As to the copyright issue, Sohu will monitor uploaded content and conduct its own censorship, said Fang Gang, vice editor-in-chief for Sohu.
Sohu, which recently made a renewed foray into online gaming with the launch of its Tian Long Ba Bu game, is looking to re-position itself as a social networking site, according to Charles Zhang, the company's chairman.
"The overall strategy of Sohu is to be not only a news portal but also a big community—like MySpace," Zhang told Reuters on Wednesday in an interview on the sidelines of ChinaJoy, China's biggest video game conference.
Currently Sohu's blogs only allow text and audio clips. The Website has a separate broadband video channel for entertainment news and clips, but they are not uploaded by Web users.
"We are not worried about how to make money (from the updated blog service) at this stage" said Zhang.
Sources:
Shanghai Daily, ExtremeTech