“President, this is the latest report from Jiangnan Group!” Early on Monday morning, as Sina President Wang Yan started his day and poured himself a glass of Bordeaux, his secretary rushed to hand him a piece of intelligence.
“Jiangnan Group? What report are they sending us?” Wang Yan’s expression was slightly perplexed. Anyone in the internet industry was familiar with Jiangnan Group.
After all, the immense success of 00, Facebook, and Jiangnan Mall on the internet was undeniable.
However, Wang Yan didn’t think much of Huang He, a man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He’d heard his ancestors were cobblers, which, just hearing that, made it clear the man was a tinkerer with things people found displeasing.
Wang Yan had met Huang He once before, at a large charity gala in Beijing. To Wang Yan’s disgust, Huang He wore a casual shirt of an unknown brand, paired with wrinkled trousers that hadn’t been ironed.
What was even more detestable was that Huang He, attending such a high-profile business banquet, hadn’t worn a suit, only a casual shirt. He clearly lacked any understanding of business etiquette; who attends a banquet without a suit? He was undeniably a country bumpkin.
What truly made Wang Yan unable to tolerate Huang He was that he disliked red wine. As Wang Yan suppressed his disgust and dissatisfaction, raising his wine glass to toast Huang He as a courtesy,
The other man actually exchanged the red wine he was given for a glass of baijiu, declaring that red wine was effeminate and not something a man should drink; a man should drink baijiu.
He then forcibly made Wang Yan drink a glass of baijiu, leaving Wang Yan shaken for a full three days, terrified at the sight of any clear liquid.
Everyone in the industry knew that Wang Yan was a famous red wine connoisseur, only favoring red wine. Yet, Huang He had actually forced him to drink baijiu. It was undoubtedly intentional.
From then on, Wang Yan held Huang He in contempt. However, he didn't irrationally seek trouble with Huang He. After all, his own ascension was shaky; he had just ousted Wang Zhidong, the founder of Sina and his former boss, from the company. Internally, things were unstable. If he were to also offend Huang He at this time, it would be as if he were asking for more trouble.
After that, Wang Yan and Huang He had no further interaction. Wang Yan hoped they would never interact again for the rest of their lives.
Unexpectedly, Jiangnan Group had proactively sent over a document.
Wang Yan took the document and his pupils contracted.
This was actually a quotation for advertising resources from Jiangnan Group. Even more astonishingly, the direct train functions for the homepages of 00, Facebook, and Jiangnan Mall were all included in this advertising quote.
This was a resource that made countless internet companies dizzy with desire.
Although Wang Yan disliked Huang He, it didn’t mean Wang Yan didn’t understand the value behind this advertising quote. He didn’t need to look at the specific examples listed in the quote to know how terrifying the traffic boost from homepage direct train functions was for an internet product.
At this time, Sina, Sohu, NetEase, and Yahoo China were in the fiercest competition for the Chinese portal market. Yahoo China originally held the highest market share, as the saying goes, “foreign monks chant the scriptures well.”
However, Yahoo China’s good days lasted less than half a year before it declined to third place, currently holding an 18% market share.
Sina was currently ranked first, with a 31% market share.
Sohu followed closely, with a 28% market share.
NetEase ranked last, with a 16% market share.
The remaining 7% market share was divided among other smaller portal websites.
[PS: As specific market share data for that year could not be found, these figures are roughly listed based on the author Ding’s memory and do not represent factual data.]
From such a chaotic situation, one could see how intense the competition in the entire portal website market was. Even Wang Yan and Sina, the industry leaders, felt uneasy, constantly worried about their dominant position being overthrown.
And once the dominant position was lost, they would be the next to fall.
Why was Wang Zhidong driven out of his position as CEO of Sina, a company he had nurtured?
It was because NetEase and Yahoo China had aggressively entered the market. Sohu, due to signing a deal with the NBA, instantly gained massive traffic support. Sina once dropped to fourth place in market rankings, at the bottom. It was then that the then-chairman seized on this weakness, colluding with the board to oust Wang Zhidong.
It was he, Wang Yan, who took over as president and diligently managed the company, pulling Sina back to the market and regaining the number one throne.
Of course, many did not credit this to Wang Yan’s efforts. After all, upon taking office, Wang Yan did not introduce any reform measures; he merely continued the development strategies left behind by Wang Zhidong.
Then Sina returned to the dominant position. The fundamental reason was that NetEase, Yahoo China, and Sohu had implemented too many innovations, which in turn eroded their own market share.
Of course, Sohu eventually figured things out, and its market share slowly rebounded, staying close behind Sina, unwilling to remain the eternal second.
NetEase, on the other hand, seemed to have figured things out and began to focus on its email business and venture into the gaming industry. For portal websites, it was sufficient to maintain their existence.
Yahoo China, however, was constantly making moves and acquiring smaller domestic portal websites, trying to regain its market share. It was evident that Yahoo China was quite ambitious.
However, these competitors were not Wang Yan’s biggest concern. His most worrying competitor was none other than Jiangnan Group. Although Jiangnan Group hadn't yet ventured into the portal website business.
This might sound absurd, but not only Wang Yan thought this way; Sina and NetEase also harbored such fears. They were all acutely aware that with Jiangnan Group’s current massive scale and user base, if they were to enter the portal website market, attracting tens of millions of 00 users, they would likely immediately seize a significant portion of the market.
It might even happen like when Yahoo entered China, instantly taking away the dominant market position.
This was not an unfounded speculation, but a widely acknowledged fact within the industry: Jiangnan Group’s current internet traffic was truly terrifying.
However, when Wang Yan saw this quote, he inexplicably felt much more at ease.
Since Jiangnan Group was willing to sell its homepage resources to a portal website like theirs, did that mean Jiangnan Group had no intention of entering the portal website industry?
If that were the case, it would truly be a massive surprise, worth another half glass of red wine for Wang Yan.
Well, one shouldn’t drink too much red wine; red wine could also get you drunk.
“President, when the representative from Jiangnan Group gave me this quote, they mentioned they hoped we would make a decision quickly. Because if we purchase over 200 million RMB worth of advertising resources, they are willing to include the primary homepage resource for Jiangnan Search! This is a one-time offer; whoever pays first gets it.” the secretary said.
“Hmm, is Jiangnan Group that short on cash?” Wang Yan nodded, muttering to himself, as if about to agree, but then he hesitated and said nothing.
“I need to consider it and discuss it with the chairman!” Wang Yan said after a moment of deliberation, then set the quote aside.
—
At the same time, Sohu’s Zhang Chaoyang also received this quote.
Simultaneously, he learned from his secretary about the additional conditions offered by Jiangnan Group.
“What is the current market share for search engines?” Zhang Chaoyang asked very directly.
“Currently, Jiangnan Search holds the top position with a market share of 37%. Baidu Search is ranked second with a 35% market share. Google is third with a 20% market share,” his secretary replied.
“Once our Sogou goes public, the entire market will be ours!” Zhang Chaoyang waved his hand decisively. “But until then, borrowing the advantage of Jiangnan Search is not a bad idea!”
“Did Jiangnan Group really say that whoever pays first gets this additional resource?” Zhang Chaoyang asked again, turning to his secretary.
“Yes, I have confirmed this with their representative multiple times!”
“Did you ask him if, once our resources are secured, he would still sell the same resources to Sina, NetEase, or Yahoo? After all, I see they have offered five positions!” Zhang Chaoyang inquired.
“Yes, I also inquired about this. The representative stated that it was clearly written in the quote: for the same type of business, only one will be displayed on the same advertising spot. Once accepted, no competitor will be displayed there.” his secretary replied.
“Is that so? Meaning, as long as I pay first, Wang Yan and Ding Lei and the others will have to give up?” Zhang Chaoyang became suddenly excited.
“Yes, I have confirmed the quote. It does indeed have this clause,” the secretary confirmed.
“Do we have 200 million RMB in our accounts?” Zhang Chaoyang clenched his fist and asked.
“We do, but a large sum for goods is due soon, as well as employee salaries. If we pay 200 million RMB, we might not be able to cover the goods payment and salaries!” the secretary said.
“We can’t worry about that too much. As long as we have the money, you contact that representative from Jiangnan immediately and tell him that Sohu will purchase the homepage direct train for 00 and Facebook for one year, for 200 million RMB. The payment will be made upon signing,” Zhang Chaoyang stated without hesitation.
After all, as the founder of the company, Zhang Chaoyang’s decisiveness in action surpassed others.