Youku

Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku[5] (Chinese: 优酷; lit. 'excellent (and) cool'),[6] is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

Youku Tudou Inc.
Screenshot
Screenshot of Youku home page
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Video hosting service
Available inChinese
FoundedMarch 2006 (2006-03)
Headquarters
Founder(s)Victor Koo
IndustryInternet
ServicesOnline services
RevenueUS$649.5 million (2014)[3]
Employees2,104[4]
ParentAlibaba Group
URLwww.youku.com
RegistrationOptional
(required to upload and/or comment on videos)
Launched21 December 2006 (2006-12-21)
Current statusActive
Youku
Simplified Chinese优酷
Traditional Chinese優酷
Literal meaningexcellent (and) cool

Youku has its headquarters in the Sinosteel Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing.[7][8]

On 12 March 2012, Youku reached an agreement to merger with Tudou in a stock-for-stock transaction, the new entity being named Youku Tudou Inc.[9] In 2014, it had more than 500 million monthly active users, with 800 million daily video views.[10]

Youku is one of China's top online video and streaming service platforms, along with iQiyi, Sohu, LeTV, Tencent Video, PPTV, 56.com and Funshion. However, Youku's domination in the Chinese market was toppled by its competitor Baidu's iQiyi in 2015.[11]

History

Youku was founded by Victor Koo (Gu Yongqiang),[12][13] former President of Chinese Internet portal Sohu. Initial funding for the site came from 1Verge, a fund raised by him. A beta version of the site was launched with limited geographic reach in June 2003, and the website was formally launched in December 2003. In 2007, the company received $25 million in funding from venture capitalists.[14] In December 2009, the company announced that it had raised a total of $110 million in private equity funding. Major investors include Brookside (Bain) Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Maverick Capital, and Chengwei Ventures.[15]

The company initially emphasized user-generated content but has since shifted its focus to professionally produced videos licensed from over 1,500 content partners.[15]

As of January 2010, Youku.com was ranked #1 in the Chinese Internet video sector according to Internet metrics provider CR-Nielsen,[16] (keeping in mind that YouTube is banned in China). In 2008, Youku partnered with Myspace in China.[17] Later that year, Youku became the sole online video provider embedded in the China Edition of Mozilla Firefox.[18]

In January 2010, Youku and competitor Tudou announced the creation of a video broadcasting exchange network, under which Youku and Tudou will cross-license professionally produced video content.

Youku recorded gross revenues of 200 million RMB in 2009.[19]

On 8 December 2010, Youku was listed at the New York Stock Exchange for its first time. The stock closed at $33.44 on its first day of trading giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $3.3 billion. For the first 9 months of 2010 Youku reported revenue of $35.1 million and recorded a loss of $25 million during this period. YouKu.com seems to have no relation to the Chinese domain youku.cn.

Victor Koo was once an employee of Bain & Company, one of the most prominent management consulting firms in the world. [20]

In December 2018, the company announced a layoff of the president of the unit Yang Weidong due to his assistance to the police in investigation about the case of seeking economic benefits.[21]

The mobile app of Youku was banned in India (along with other Chinese apps) on 2 September 2020 by the government, the move came amid the 2020 China-India skirmish.[22][23]

Merger

On 12 March 2012, Youku and Tudou two of the biggest online video companies in China announced plans to merge,[24][25] creating one of China's biggest video sites.[26] Prior to the announcement of the merger, Youku was the #11 website in China, and Tudou was #14.[27] The company's name was changed to Youku Tudou Inc.[28] The chairman of the board is Victor Koo, the founder of Youku.[29] The company had a stock listed on the NYSE, YOKU before being acquired by Alibaba Group on 6 November 2015. In December 2016 it reported it had 30 million subscribers.[30]

See also
  • 56.com
  • Tencent Video
  • Tudou
  • iQiyi

References
  1. "Contact Us." Youku. Retrieved on December 27, 2010. "Beijing 5th Floor, Sinosteel Plaza, 8 Haidian Dajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China."
  2. "版权声明." Youku. Retrieved on December 27, 2010. "北京市海淀区海淀大街8号中钢国际大厦5层" and "合一信息技术（北京）有限公司"
  3. "Financial statement FY2014 Archived 2016-01-22 at the Wayback Machine." Youku. Retrieved on April 22, 2015
  4. "Youku Tudou Inc (ADR): NYSE:YOKU quotes & news". Google Finance. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  5. "Youku Tudou Inc.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.com.
  6. Moore, Malcolm (December 14, 2010). "Youku founder Victor Koo believes only China can help his company grow, make money and even beat piracy". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  7. "版权声明." Youku. Retrieved on 27 December 2010. "北京市海淀区海淀大街8号中钢国际大厦5层"
  8. "Contact Us." Youku. Retrieved 27 December 2010. "Beijing 5th Floor, Sinosteel Plaza, 8 Haidian Dajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China."
  9. Chao, Loretta; Steger, Isabella (March 12, 2012). "China's Youku to Buy Chief Rival Tudou". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  10. "Youku Tudou Partners with Xiaomi to Accelerate Multi-Screen Ecosystem Development". Youku Tudou. November 12, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  11. Roettgers, Janko (March 10, 2014). "Baidu's Iqiyi overtakes Youku as China's most popular video service". GIGAOM. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  12. "The next generation of entrepreneurs." The Economist. November 21, 2012. Retrieved on July 28, 2013. "Victor Koo (Gu Yongqiang) is worth watching,[...]Mr Koo’s firm, Youku Tudou,[...]"
  13. "09中国互联网大会嘉宾：优酷CEO古永锵." (Archive) Sina. August 20, 2009. Retrieved on July 28, 2013. "古永锵 (Victor Koo)[...]"
  14. Kristen Nicole2007-11-21 06:47:07 UTC (2007-11-21). "Youku Hits the Jackpot with $25M". Mashable.com. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  15. Chao, Loretta (December 21, 2009). "China Site Youku.com Raises $40 Million". The Wall Street Journal.
  16. 华瑞网标（CR-Nielsen）公司_创建科学测评体系，挖掘中国网络价值
  17. Mike Sachoff (2008-03-14). "MySpace China Partners With Video Site Youku". WebProNews. Archived from the original on 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  18. "Youku and Mozilla Partner to Enrich Online Video Viewing at 谋智新闻". Blog.mozilla.com. 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  19. INTERVIEW - Youku eyes overseas listing, partnerships
  20. Youku Investor Relations
  21. "Alibaba replaces video streaming boss amid anti-corruption probe". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  22. "Government Bans 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  23. Yasir, Sameer; Kumar, Hari (2020-09-02). "India Bans 118 Chinese Apps as Indian Soldier Is Killed on Disputed Border". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  24. Hille, Kathrin (12 March 2012). "Youku and Tudou to merge amid cost rises". ft.com. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  25. BARBOZA, DAVID (12 March 2012). "2 Video Web Sites in China Plan a Merger". nytimes.com. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  26. Takada, Kazunori (12 March 2012). "Youku to buy Tudou, creating China online video giant". reuters.com. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  27. Flannery, Russell (12 March 2012). "Land Of The Large: Youku, Tudou Merger Latest In China's Web Consolidation". forbes.com. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  28. "Chinese Web Video Rivals To Merge". March 12, 2012.
  29. "Alibaba Buys Youku in Deal Said to Be Valued at $4.8 Billion". Bloomberg.com. November 6, 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  30. Xiang, Tracey (12 December 2016). "China's Online Video Market in the Middle of Transition to Paid Subscribers, Self-Produced Content". TechNode. Retrieved 2 January 2017.

Further reading
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