The development direction of the household website: innovation and differentiation

A few days ago, Tom launched a large-scale layoffs online again, the website department general manager Wang and other departures. It is said that Tom Online is brewing to abolish the establishment of the website division, the remaining content of the team into other departments. After this round of layoffs, the entire Tom site will be left only dozens of people, Tom is equivalent to completely disappear from the portal, the future of the Department of the establishment of the website may be canceled.

This is the fourth time that Tom has been laid off on the line. As early as 2007, after 3 months of privatization, Tom Online to adjust the portal structure, including technology, games, digital, news and other online channels have been abolished, involving nearly hundred people. Last November, Tom's wireless division again spread the news of mass layoffs, the number of layoffs accounted for about 20% to 30%.

In fact, the Web portal layoffs are not only a case of Tom Online. In September 2010, all the information channels in the air network were laid down on the front page, including finance, technology, sports, news and entertainment channels.

Blind expansion causes indigestion

For a long time, China's portal site is Sina, Sohu, NetEase rule the world, with Tencent, MSN Chinese Portal and Yahoo to join, China's portal competition is more and more fierce. Even once the three major portal Sohu, also was replaced by Tencent, ranking fell out of the top three.

Once the portal giant, is how to lag behind in the competition? There are industry analysis, the main problem appears in strategic positioning.

Internet analyst Luebbe thinks, Tom Online four business--SP business, portal site, Tom, Tom ebay has not been able to become a long-term stable growth, mainly because of its addiction to "make quick money." Tom Online first with the help of SP business scenery, in the SP business by the policy adjustment, Tom Online to give up the SP, Tom Business, the results found that this business can not make it a big profit, and will look to the field of E-commerce, and ebay joint venture to set up Tom Ebay, This business in 2007 for Tom Online brought 104 million Hong Kong dollar losses, since then has been unable to turn the deficit into surplus. Then, watching the Internet video increasingly booming, Tom Group will expand the focus of the territory shifted to this area. Tom Online always follow others run, busy to develop a variety of new business, busy closely follow the fashion trend, the result is a monkey break corn, break a throw one, may end up with nothing.

And Sohu in the rankings of regression, but also with the previous years crazy expansion but indigestion has a close relationship. Over the past few years, Sohu has been through the acquisition of some sites to expand their own strength, hoping to achieve the goal of jumping development. But large-scale mergers and acquisitions but lead to the front pull too long, not enough, this let Sohu everywhere embattled, although have the finger, difficult to grip into a fist. After radical expansion, difficult to digest, so that Sohu trapped in their own dug pit.

Innovation and differentiation is the direction

Prominent characteristics, based on specialization-after a competition and baptism of the portal site, gradually recognized this point.

Sina has always been the news portal as a positioning, and continue to work towards this direction, and eventually to the first; NetEase has also experienced the confusion of the internet bubble, but after the election of the net, it never gave up the position, under the plowing, now is also a wind; Tencent firmly grasp the huge user resources QQ On this basis to develop a variety of value-added applications, become a leading internet company.

In today's era of personalized consumption, who can do to provide users with more distinctive, high-quality products and services, who can create real value, and to obtain attractive profits. Therefore, China's portal must be more mature and brutal internet competition, and strive to adhere to and reshape the characteristics of the road to specialization, to do professional network service providers, so as to expand the site, the team more to do the stronger.

Relying on new technologies to create differentiated services is the future development of the Web portal direction. Who can innovate, to provide users with more and better personalized service, who will be more easily win the market. This direction will promote the future portal from the unified portal to Personal Portal transformation.

With the maturity of Chinese netizens and the deepening competition of Internet industry, after the brutal competition, the portal site will inevitably occur deep integration, those smaller, the lack of characteristics of the portal is either early to achieve transformation, or by large sites to acquire or even crush, and survive, will also achieve functional and structural diversity, This trend is now becoming apparent. Tom Online and Sohu now the first strategic topic is how to reposition the "portal site", deep digging user needs, actively seeking change, decisive transformation, to create their own characteristics of the brand is the development of the road.