Zhang Chaoyang: Wall Street still does not understand Sohu

Regarding Sohu's statement that advertising revenue growth will slow after the Olympics, Sohu's Board of Directors Zhang Chaoyang told reporters in an interview yesterday that this was a "misunderstanding ". Zhang Chaoyang said that Sohu's statement that the growth rate of advertising revenue will be reduced to 2009-20% in 30% is incorrect, because there are still many details and innovative projects, and there is no clear figure on how much growth Sohu will achieve next year.

Shanghai Securities News: Will the advertisement growth after the Olympics slow down?

Zhang Chaoyang: the Olympic Games bring brand effects to Sohu, because Sohu has an absolute advantage in Olympic reports, so that users can switch from competitors to Sohu. After the Olympic Games were used to promote brands and attract effective switching users, the advertising CTR of Sohu in 2009 will increase significantly, which is a very important effect for advertisers. Therefore, Sohu has no reason to think that next year's advertising revenue will only grow by 20%-30%.

Shanghai Securities News: What do you think about the slowdown in the Internet brand advertisement market after the Olympics?

Zhang Chaoyang: as long as China's economy can maintain rapid growth, the growth of Internet advertising will continue. In addition, as the number of Internet users in China continues to grow and the public is increasingly dependent on the Internet, I cannot see that online advertising will slow down the growth rate. At the same time, due to the strong innovation of network enterprises, there will still be many new models in the future, such as innovations similar to Web2.0 and video, which will stimulate advertisers to advertise on innovative Internet media.

Shanghai Securities News: According to Sohu's latest financial report, online gaming revenues have exceeded advertising revenues. What do you think of this situation?

Zhang Chaoyang: Sohu is not an online game company and has always regarded the media platform as an important base. But at the same time, Sohu will also scan other fields.

Shanghai Securities News: You have always believed that Wall Street did not fully understand Sohu, but after the success of Sohu's online game business, the stock price soared. What do you think is the root cause of Wall Street's attitude towards Sohu?

Zhang Chaoyang: I did not expect Sohu's share price to rise sharply in the short term. As for the change in Wall Street's attitude towards Sohu, I think the root cause is Sohu's outstanding performance. However, I think that Wall Street still does not understand Sohu, because they can only understand businesses that affect Sohu's revenue, such as Sohu's online game strategy, but for businesses that do not bring substantial revenue to Sohu, such as Sogou's input method, they are hard to understand. But for Sohu, Sohu's Sogou Input method is crucial to Sohu's future strategic layout.

Shanghai Securities News: What are your goals for the online gaming department of Sohu? Will Sohu consider mergers and acquisitions in the future and return to A shares?

Zhang Chaoyang: the goal of Sohu's online games is to compete with pure online gaming companies such as giant, grand, and Jiucheng. I hope Sohu's online games can be upgraded to another level. Currently, Sohu will not make a major purchase because it does not conform to the growth rules of the Internet. As for whether to consider returning to A-share, Sohu only hopes to be a real-world enterprise. Currently, the company has ample funds and does not need to raise funds in the stock market.