Wang Xiaochuan, CEO of Sogou, revealed the cooperation details in an internal email that Sogou and Tencent would form a joint department to begin cooperation on search.
The email said that Tencent would merge Soso and QQ Chinese input with Sogou, and invested USD 448 million to take 36.5% of stake in Sogou. Tencent expected to increase its stake in Sogou to 40% very soon. Tencent and Sogou would work with each other in technologies, products, traffic and data, which would start a new chapter in mobile internet field.
Wang said the merging of Sogou’s technology creation with Tencent’s large platforms would give them advantages in PC search, wireless search and social search. Sogou’s star product Sogou Chinese input together with Tencent’s product would surprise users. The joint department would make sure the integrated products keep coming to internet users.
Sogou is the third largest search engine in China, after Baidu and Qihoo 360 search; and, Soso is the fourth. With the merger, it’ll be interesting to see some changes in China’s search engine market.