Daily Digital Pulse of China: Chat Apps, WeChat Verification & Qihoo vs. Baidu

China Digital

Qihoo Gets Sued Yet Again for “Borrowing” Branding

The relationship between competitors Baidu and Qihoo can be defined as one of the most quarrelsome and bitter relationships ever observed on China’s internet. The relationship between these two competitors recently became worse when Baidu filed a lawsuit against Qihoo for unfair competition. The issues that these two companies have with each other are not likely to be amended and saying that Baidu and Qihoo are not friends might be an understatement. The lawsuit has to do with Qihoo’s 360 Extreme Explorer Browser, Baidu claims that on Qihoo’s bookmark page, the process is that when a users use the Baidu search engine and click on one of the pop-up popular search terms that appears below the search bar, instead of being redirected to Baidu’s search page like it should it redirects the relevant results onto Qihoo’s search page. This feature on the browser no longer seems to be existent when tested earlier by other user’s .Which in no way means Baidu is making a false claim, you can bet on Baidu having evidence before filing a lawsuit against Qihoo for 650,000 RMB (about $104,000). This isn’t the first time Qihoo has had to pay the bill, they have lost multiple cases to Tencent in the past and have lost a case with Baidu, costing them a whopping $72,000 in damages plus a public apology. With Qihoo’s past history it’s not hard to see how this case will turn out. A lot of users ponder about why Google hasn’t taken the same action against Qihoo’s Extreme Explorer browser. The URL is chrome.360.cn and the layout looks extremely alike. Qihoo sure has a large record when it comes to “borrowing” branding from their competitors.

Source: Tech In Asia

China Digital

The Effect of Mobile Chat Apps on the Telco Industry

With the overwhelming advent of mobile chat apps, telco industries have been forced to endure painful transformations. Simply put, the widespread use of chat apps means less revenue for telephone companies. Such apps provide a great variety of capabilities to users, such as sending voice clips, making voice calls, exchanging text messages, sharing photos, and allowing access to social media. In order to keep afloat, telephone companies need to not see chat apps as rivals, but as partners in order to provide joint services to customers. This step is critical, as Asians access the Internet through their mobile phone more than those in the U.S. and in Europe, a trend that is brought on by the younger generations.

Source: Tech In Asia

China Digital

"Verification" on WeChat is Quickly Losing its Meaning

Verified accounts on Tencent’s WeChat chat app are meant to be trustworthy, but lately, it’s been found that they really have been anything but. With the help of hundreds of sellers on Taobao, third parties can establish “verified” WeChat accounts with amazing ease. One of the top sellers of these accounts has quite a lax set of requirements for a third party to become WeChat verified: The buyer must also buy 500 followers, have a verified Sina Weibo account, and their Weibo nickname must be the same as their desired WeChat account name. Apparently, tens of thousands of people have bought zombie WeChat followers and WeChat verified accounts. Just as with Sina Weibo, “verification” in the world of WeChat seems to be quickly losing its meaning and significance.

Source: Tech In Asia


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