Chapter 51 Ma Huateng's Smiling Proud Jianghu: The Way to Win

By the first half of 2005, according to the data provided by AC Nielsen and Alexa, QQ.com had already ranked fourth in the traffic indicator list of mainland portal websites, and the traffic of news, entertainment, education and other advantageous channels was even close to that of Sina. The daily update volume of qq.com is about 5,000, and the daily page views exceed 250 million.At this time, Ma Huateng was already very bullish, and wanted to build China's first comprehensive portal. From avoiding talking about portals to claiming to enter the top three domestic portals, and then coveting the position of the portal boss, Tencent's ambitions have accelerated along with the number of registered QQ users.The industry pointed out that the reason why QQ.com was able to win was that it changed the communication mode from passive to active, which gradually changed the traditional reading habits of netizens.It only took 3 years for the communication network to have a significant impact on its huge IM user base.About 10% of active IM users have developed the habit of reading news through the mini homepage and pop-up messages, and they have transformed from loyal users of Tencent to loyal users of Tencent.com, and this proportion is showing a rising trend.

In 2005, it was quite beautiful for Ma Huateng.In the second half of this year, Tencent made frequent moves. "Determining to be the best integrated portal" became the focus of Tencent's publicity that year. Tencent has begun to "recruit troops" in large quantities in Beijing, looking for various types of website content production talents. In August 2005, Tencent.com announced a new media positioning: Tencent.com will face the global Chinese community, adhere to the humanistic, rational and truth-seeking editing concepts, and strive to become the most communicative and interactive, authoritative, mainstream and fashionable. Internet media.Ma Huateng believes that Tencent's content is characterized by "focusing on QQ users".For example, he said that Tencent's news will emphasize immediacy and interactivity, and use the characteristics of QQ terminals for instant release.At the same time, there may be more pictures and other content.

After entering the portal for two years, Ma Huateng has not only received recognition from the outside world, but also received certain recognition from within the Internet industry. In September 2005, at the scene of "West Lake Discussion of Swords", the heads of the five major websites appeared on a stage.The host Zhang Weiying asked Ma Yun, Ding Lei, Ma Huateng, Wang Yan, and Zhang Chaoyang, whose company do you like most besides yourself? At that time, Ma Yun chose Ding Lei, and Ding Lei’s answer was Ma Huateng. Ma Huateng set his sights on Wang Yan, Wang Yan In turn to praise Ma Huateng, Zhang Chaoyang's choice is also Ding Lei.After statistics, it was found that Ding Lei had 2 votes, Ma Huateng had 2 votes, and Wang Yan had 1 vote.At that moment, Ma Huateng and Ding Lei, both from South China, tied for first place.

This recognition is supported by numbers. On December 12, 2005, Alexa's latest traffic ranking showed that the portal's seat was being refreshed.Tencent followed Sina and NetEase with a visit volume of 45,966 per million Alexa installed users and a 15% growth rate, becoming the third largest integrated portal; while Sohu had a visit volume of 44,650 and a negative growth rate of 5%. Knocked out of the top three.In addition, Sina and Netease ranked first and second in terms of traffic. "Portals and instant messaging rely on each other, and they have completely subverted the traditional communication methods of portal websites. The combination of the two will lock in the user base. Just like we usually read newspapers, we used to buy newspapers at newsstands, but now he feels that sending The door-to-door service is more suitable for him. Microsoft MSN portal relies on MSN instant messaging tools, and NetEase relies on NetEase Paobo to seek breakthroughs, which is also a reason." Ma Huateng said.

At the end of 2005, Ma Huateng's portal ambition got a brand-new explanation and display. On December 31, 2005, Tencent changed its bid in a low-key manner without any major news release.In order to explain the motivation of the logo change, Ma Huateng only sent a speech on the website with the new logo. The little penguin logo surrounded by green, yellow, and red trajectory lines replaced the classic QQ penguin pattern in the past.Ma Huateng has carefully prepared for this for more than a year. On the last day of 2005, 34-year-old Ma Huateng ushered in the new year by changing his bid. "If Tencent is a portal website, it can be regarded as the third-generation portal." Liu Bing, an Internet analyst at Beijing Times Jishi Information Co., Ltd. analyzed.He believes that the first generation of portals is dominated by the three major portals such as Sina, Sohu, and Netease, while the second generation is mainly based on FM365, 263, and 21CN. Tencent and Baidu can be classified as the third generation of portals.Compared with the three major portals such as Sina and Sohu, Tencent, which started from instant messaging, has its own different development model. "Tencent.com has a unique communication mode of 'portal + IM'." Mr. Sun Zhonghuai, general manager of Tencent's website department, introduced this.

In the "portal + IM" mode, all QQ users can learn about the latest news from the mini portal and the instant messages that appear in the lower right corner of the desktop; in addition, the news content of each channel of qq.com is also related to QQ All users open the subscription function, users only need to choose to subscribe, and the corresponding personalized news will appear on the user's desktop in the first time.Sun Zhonghuai vividly called it "news direct investment".He believes that the differentiated advantage of Tencent.com lies in the form of personalized, interactive and diversified new media.Provide "news direct input" and "news subscription" through QQ's mini homepage and instant messages, creating a more timely and personalized news model; in terms of news forms, such as global QQ connection, news quiz columns, etc., provide users with It is a good platform to participate in news, which is what qq.com is proud of as "News 2.0".

In the era of Web 2.0, users' demand for news reading is undergoing profound changes. According to the 17th CNNIC survey data, leisure and entertainment have replaced information acquisition as the number one demand of Internet users for the first time, and interactive forms such as content participation and opinion exchange are playing an increasingly important role in news. A senior person engaged in media research believes that "news interaction has changed the traditional way of media news operation. People's interaction and communication have expanded news reporting and excavation to a whole new level."For Tencent’s executives, in a sense, expanding the mainstream news portal is of great significance for Tencent to capture mainstream audiences who are more influential and more consuming.According to the Alexa ranking, qq.com, which was established only three years ago, has become the Internet portal with the largest traffic in China since July 2006.However, being the first in terms of traffic did not advance its ranking in advertising revenue, and its advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2006 was still behind Sina and Sohu.

Industry insiders analyzed that for portals, traffic is the most fundamental lifeline. It represents the loyalty and recognition of users, and is also the foundation of the portal's influence and business value. Only by normal circulation can we truly become the strongest in the portal.