BEIJING, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- A recent report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) named Soku, the video search engine developed by China's leading Internet television company Youku.com, Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) ("Youku"), as China's most widely used vertical search engine in the relevant market. Youku officially launched Soku (http://soku.youku.com) in May 2011.
According to the CNNIC Report, Soku had the highest user penetration -- 16.9% -- in the vertical search engine market. Five months after its launch, Soku saw monthly traffic of nearly 46 million users, which was 17% of the monthly traffic of Baidu, a general web search provider. The growing number of Chinese Internet users has led to increasing demand for vertically focused search engines, such as Soku.
Designed from the ground up to build on Youku's deep understanding of the habits of Chinese Internet video viewers, Soku indexes videos in its own content library as well as content from many of the country's top video sites. Soku can intelligently recommend videos based on even partial entries of search queries through its user-friendly "Ku Box." Soku is also able to take users' Internet connectivity into account in recommending the fastest-streaming and highest-quality content available.
"When we began working on Soku, we conceived of it as an open platform serving all Chinese Internet users," said Youku CEO Victor Koo. "Soku was built from the ground up to bolster Youku's 'All About Video' strategy by helping users find the content they want, regardless of search query entries. Soku's mission is to build user loyalty and to promote the development of China's online video market in a way that benefits viewers."
According to the CNNIC Report, there were a total of 513 million Internet users in China at the end of 2011, of which 392 million had home broadband connections, and 325 million watched online video. Among all types of online video content, news, video, and music were the most frequently searched categories of content. While most general-purpose web search engines offer specialized search features, vertical search engines are becoming increasingly popular with Chinese Internet users, many of whom choose dedicated search engines like Soku as their first choice for video search.
About Youku
Youku Inc. is China's leading Internet television company. Our Internet television platform enables users to search, view and share high-quality video content quickly and easily across multiple devices. Youku, which stands for "what's best and what's cool" in Chinese, is the most recognized online video brand in China. Youku's American depositary shares, each representing 18 of our Class A ordinary shares, are traded on NYSE under the symbol "YOKU."
For more information, please contact:
Media Relations:
Jean Shao
Director, International Communications
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: shaodan@youku.com
Investor Relations:
Ryan Cheung
Corporate Finance Director
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x6090
Email: ryan.cheung@youku.com
