BEIJING, March 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sohu.com Inc.
(Nasdaq: SOHU), China's leading online media, search and mobile value-added services company, today announced media collaboration and other key programs in conjunction with Sohu's role as the Official Internet Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Ms. Carol Yu, Co-President and CFO of Sohu, stated, "With the 500-day countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, athletes and sponsors alike are preparing for the first Olympic Games to be held in China. As the first Internet Content Sponsor in the history of the Olympics, Sohu is already powering the official Beijing Olympics website. We have also begun implementing more than 20 key programs, together with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), to highlight enthusiasm and support for China's first time as host of the Olympic Games. These programs are designed to attract a broad range of Chinese Internet users including world-famous athletes and Olympic fans alike."
Leveraging Sohu's unique status of sole Internet Sponsor and operator of the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Sohu is the only Chinese online media company to have exclusive access to premier Olympic content. As such, Sohu is announcing an exclusive collaborative agreement with the nation's top 15 newspapers in setting up a media alliance for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The members of the alliances will join Sohu's journalist team and share their resources to provide extensive Olympics-related coverage and reporting. In addition, each member will commit to promote Sohu's unique status and strengths surrounding the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Mr. Luming Chen, Vice President of Olympic Sponsorship for Sohu, commented, "Sohu's collaborative agreement with China's leading traditional media outlets marks the first time multiple media outlets are working together to report on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a format that underscores the importance of reaching the vast Chinese audience through both traditional and new media."
In addition to its collaborative media program, Sohu also announced its involvement in new initiatives and programs promoting the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games including:
-- Olympics Families Selection - A Sohu-driven initiative, presented on
the Official Olympic website (http://en.beijing2008.cn/), to select
and invite five families from across the globe and five families from
China to attend the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and share their
experiences.
-- International Volunteers Recruitment - A program to raise awareness
and enrollment for volunteers from around the world to assist with
the administration of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
-- Honorary Website Visitors Selection - The official website of the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is enrolling a total of 2008 Honorary
Official Website Visitors as part of a campaign to mark the 500-day
countdown to the Olympics. On March 26, the Official Olympic website
published the first batch of 500 Honorary Visitors, including official
website users, BOCOG officials, sports and art stars (including world
famous female Chinese volleyball player Lang Ping), volunteers, and
people with disabilities. The Honorary Visitors will take part in
special activities and will serve as "Online Messengers" of the
Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
-- "Good Luck Beijing" events - Test games for Olympics venues which will
occur from July 2007 to June 2008. The events will include 42 games
featuring global competitors from 28 Olympic sports and two Paralympic
sports. Sohu will provide timely and comprehensive coverage of the
Good Luck Beijing events including news reporting, coverage on Sohu
Blog and Sohu Club, video highlights and video interviews with the
athletes.
Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu, stated, "The Olympic Games are not only the world's premier athletic competition, but also a global economic and cultural event. The Olympics offer significant opportunities to Beijing as well as cities throughout China. Sohu, as the sole Internet Sponsor, is devoted to providing the best online reporting for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and encouraging participation, contribution and enjoyment of this historic event."
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Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in Sohu's quarterly operating results, Sohu's historical and possible future losses and limited operating history, and the company's reliance on online advertising sales, wireless services (most wireless revenues are collected from a few mobile network operators), and online games for its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Sohu's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Sohu.com
Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU) is China's premier online brand and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese, providing a network of web properties and community based/web 2.0 products which offer the vast Sohu user community a broad array of choices regarding information, entertainment and communication. Sohu has built one of the most comprehensive matrices of Chinese language web properties and proprietary search engines, consisting of the mass portal and leading online media destination www.sohu.com; interactive search engine www.sogou.com; #1 online alumni club www.chinaren.com; #1 games information portal www.17173.com; the top real estate website www.focus.cn; wireless value-added services provider www.goodfeel.com.cn; and leading online mapping service provider www.go2map.com.
Sohu corporate services consist of brand advertising on its matrix of websites as well as paid listing and bid listing on its in-house developed search directory and engines. Sohu also offers two types of consumer services. Sohu offers wireless value-added services such as news, information, music, ringtone and picture content sent over mobile phones. The company also operates a massively multi-player online role-playing game and a casual game platform. Sohu.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China's Internet pioneers, is in its eleventh year of operation.
Sohu.com Contact Information
Jessica Zhang
Senior Manager
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Tel: +86-10-6272-6596
Email: ir@contact.sohu.com
http://corp.sohu.com
