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Author: Qiong and other 2004-7-4 17:13:58 blog China (Blogchina.com) original source: the Internet magazine [sic] address Qiong Zhang Lu Chen Jinguo Gmail came, brought the expansion of free e-mail chain reaction . However, the free email "You come to me" is just a hoss of the iceberg in the Internet competition in the era, and the storm it set off allows us to see this competition and how different the past is. Different, different ways, participants are also different. When the Internet company is far away from the bleak, when it began to pursue a profit, foreign Google, Yahoo, China Sina, Netease considers more competition? How to achieve breakthroughs through the innovation of the product? Free email is just a recent breakthrough point. It seems that the same breakthrough is different connotation and strength, behind the free email, there are independent Internet applications such as search, instant messaging, etc. Obviously, there is strong in these areas, some people are weak, and there are different strategies, different "integration" methods. But everyone is doing the same thing: preparing for the next round of competition, at least, can't make competitors account for cheapness on the basics such as mailbox space. So some people took the initiative to attack, some people should fight. In this process, some people will grow, some people will fall, and the Internet industry may thus vibrate and re-divide the power range, but surrounded by email, search, instant messaging, and even social software and other Internet service models will be a struggle. Will not stop. How much is the free mailbox value? This time, Google is really coming! With Gmail! When Google issued it on April 1st to provide users with a capacity of up to 1G email address, people think that this is a April Fool's day joke, but when more and more people receive friends Gmail invitation (this is When you get the test version of Gmail), other email providers began to sit. The domino is pushed down. On April 9th, Sina's 5th anniversary of his email is born. On June 18, Netease launched a largest free email address of 260m in order to celebrate the establishment of the 7th anniversary; June 15th, Yahoo expands the free email to 100 megabytes, and the charged mailbox has reached 2G. Even Microsoft also announced the addition of this competition and increased the storage restriction of Hotmail Free Mailbox by 2MB to 250MB. In fact, free from email, on June 29, Ding Lei, who was on the list of China's richest list last year, started to show his "Netease Bubble", and then immediately changed the full banner. Abandoning the Internet is for the sake of the "Free Lunch" flag? However, as many people think that Google provides a large-capacity email service is to work with the industry, which has been working on larger storage capacity, and like Yahoo. Hotmail has reduced free email service storage. Capacity to convince free users to pay users. However, the new events that have arrived, in this market, a "free" event in 2000 was once again staged. But this time is no longer simple "free", but it has become a competitive strategy for each company. Talking about why re-put the free mailbox in an important location, Sina CEO Wang Yan said that we are spare no effort to promote SMS and MMS, and the development of free email is also a promotion method. Sohu, which has always been known as "Flashing", has always been in secret development of free mail users, "The development of a free mail business in a portal is proportional to the development of high profit business such as SMS.
"An industry insider provides this data: from the beginning of last year, NetEase free mailbox 25m, users increase by 15 million households, SMS revenue is nearly 30 million yuan per month; Sohu free mailbox 20m, users increase by 15 million households, SMS income is nearly 20 million yuan per month; Sina free email 5M, users grow less than 10 million, SMS revenue is nearly 15 million yuan per month. Only as the most viscous and loyal product, for SMS and online advertising The promotion also has immediate results. Under the increasingly competitive situation of SMS products, free mailboxes and instant messages are undoubtedly a tool. The reason why this chain reaction is not because Google's power, but the current Internet industry Beginning to the dream of the dream. When the loss is no longer plagued, just when the profit is pursued, the foreign Google, Yahoo, China's Sina, Netease considers how competition? How to achieve breakthroughs through the innovation Perhaps the history of productivity development has given them the best answer - from the most basic application to find answers. Whether it is free email service, or a growing red fire search and instant messaging services, it has become those Internet leaders. Huo Huolan "knife" because they are the most active internet applications at this stage. Moreover, they have formed their own business models and industrial chains, and those companies have also obtained "true gold and silver". Of course, each one The company has different advantages, the foundation is different, the target is different, and there is also a different direction. Compared to Google will embed the Search technology that lives in Gmail and Netease 2004 (instant messaging tool) Add the email reminder function, choose another road from the 263 network group of the mail, put the instant messaging tool in the interface of the mailbox, allowing 263 mail users to communicate with instant messaging tools. The current lively scene behind, Just just a bluff or indicate greater actions and greater changes? It is still difficult to say now. But you can determine that the force after the combination of free email, search and instant messaging should be more amazing. Just as the father of the Internet Vintcerf recently It is pointed out that all information transport media - including SMS (SMS), email, instant messaging, and voice mail are equally important, need to coordinate these applications in meaningful places. Future market competition will still be The smoke is filled, because the new round of battle is not calm from the beginning. The Mandarin Internet of Things is profitable, but does not mean the degradation of the competition. On the contrary, the competition in the Internet industry in some directions will only be more Tragic. Sohu CEO Zhang Chaoyang also believes that when the Internet has developed some universal applications, after forming a scale of profit, it is the real spring of the Internet. Just like this, this tranquil and low-key email service will be in Gmail's Under irritation Pick up the waves and re-enrolled by major portals as the new round of competition, and after this is a re-examination of traditional search engine functions and profit models. It seems that "free" is not the previous dispute between the previous business, is not only the direct catalyst of the scale effect. When e-mail, search, instant messaging, etc., this time "free" is "free" The dispute will be the battle of "linkage". Perhaps, integrated and integrated changes only between blink. Expand temptation Google Select to release free email with up to 1G before IPO, Gmail is definitely a trick, and one is the "invitation marketing" actual combat: 1000 test accounts are issued online, invite 1000 users to Gmail Test. After the news came out, Google quickly became the focus of the entire industry along with the email or even search engines.
Such a high concern is undoubted to add more self-confidence to Google's listing. For example, John Bennett, which is responsible for managing $ 38 billion asset management company GAM, John Bennett, does not hide your own Excited love, "Google's fundrait is the music of my ear." "Wall Street Journal" believes that Google's IPO program is "non-traditional, risk high and contrary to shareholders,", " Just "sponsorship link" mode as the main interface as Google and the unique advertiser "sponsorship" model, it is already a larger in the case of the commercial taste. In addition, Google, which has always rejected technology innovation and light commercial interests, also gives people to the academic taste too rich, how to see the company that is planning to issue a value of $ 2.7 billion or so, "Google is not a traditional business, we also I don't want to turn, "Google founder Larry Page and SERGEY BRIN said. Even for Gmail, which is launched in Google, is more than just "a big amazing free mailbox", which contains more innovative ingredients. For example, in the Gmail business, users will allow users to use Google's keyword search techniques to search for emails; in addition, Gmail will specifically design a commercial advertisement that can automatically appear for user mail content. Although this will involve some privacy protection, analysts have made high evaluation of Google's experimental move. "Commercial Weekly" wrote: "With the increase in email business traffic, Google once again applied the search technology to the email business. From this perspective, if you use it, Google The Gmail business should also have a huge extension space. "If you look at the portrait, Google's move is actually trying to find new profit modes for your email application. Of course, you will be adding to Google in this new mode. The core ingredients are thus different from the early days. Many portals with Google's expansion movements have different ideas. For example, Google's biggest hypothetical enemy Yahoo, from last year, 200 million US dollars acquired Google's competitors Overture and Inktomi, to create Yahoo Search (YST), and then smoothly put these two companies very special Search technology and its own original technologies are integrated together, thereby officially launching their search technology on February 17 this year, as well as funding 550 million US dollars on March 26, and Yahoo's technology is pushing and powerful. "This is the best search service we provide so far." Yahoo is responsible for searching business, Jeff Weiner, is talking about Yahoo will provide 130 million registered users in future months. Personalized search service is represented. It is to know that although Yahoo Yahoo is always only in the industry's boss, it is always second to google, but until last year, the search service provided by Yahoo is mainly from Google's licensing technology. Google can also Keep only relying on technical authorization and advertisers next to the search results page. However, Yahoo is a global number of portals, which have many advantages that do not have many Google, such as a comprehensive comprehensive perspective and a variety of business forms. From this point of view, Google launches Gmail is also an extension of its own core competitiveness. Although the surface is to compete with Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN, it is actually not Gmail's capacity, but in fact, Yahoo and MSN are still Gamil pulled away from himself. So, Yahoo and MSN's Hotmail have followed into the spread of expansion. It looks very helpless.
Blake Owen, vice president of Microsoft MSN department, said, "We have not heard that users are eager to increase account or space." But for a capacity, "Microsoft does not want competitors to rely on capacity." Brek emphasized, in fact Pay more attention to issues such as spam and mailbox stability. Indeed, in today's average 1M hard disk is only less than $ 0.1 cost, the capacity of the mailbox seems to be a big event that the mail service suppliers are concerned. "Yahoo has made a precise measurement of data on the annual use of the mailbox and the average usage rate of the mailbox, and the purpose is to make a commitment to the user." Yahoo China President Zhou Hong said, "Our conclusion is, The 100M mailbox is sufficient to meet the needs of the vast majority of users. Capacity is only part of user needs, and it must be combined with the stability, security, and anti-garbage of the mailbox. If the user is actually used In the middle, gradually produce a larger capacity, the email will enter a new round of expansion. "From the eyeball to the profit, it returns to the eye and the moment of this round of expansion is staged. According to the survey at IRESECH 2003, the most common network service of netizens is an email, with a proportion of use of up to 92.6%. As the current most basic application of the Internet industry, email played a vital role in the first round of the first round of the initial of the portal. It is to know that these resources that have suffered from a bitter, have now become an important capital that the portal is "grab money" in the field of SMS and online games. However, in 2002, a sound crane, the sound of the mailbox charged was amazing. Although 263, Sina and other portals can be exchanged in exchange for the large number of bases, even if they sacrifice some users' loyalty, however, the reality is far like it. After the 263 implementation of the email fee, it was revealed that one million yuan was received, and the charged mailbox users were still less than one million, but the balance of payments were basically flat. Sina's charged email, not only did not change, but even the new products did not launch, more talked. It seems that this profit model of "Email Charge" is defeated in front of the scale effect on the eyeball, and does not implement a good expectation of the portal's large-area harvest. However, when SMS, game, ringtone download, etc. and telecom-related value-added business and network advertising business are booming, the portal suddenly discovered: Wan is no longer a luxury, how can the game continue to play? As can be seen from the analysis data, in the new round of competition, the loyalty of netizens still returns to the original state, and the eyeball and profit still reflects positive correlations on the surface. Among the registered users of the free mailboxes owned by the three major portals, NetEase has reached 53 million, and only 30 million yuan of monthly income only only SMS business. Sohu, which is ranked, Sina is also a small monthly income in the SMS business due to fewer number of registered users. From this point of view, when the competition returns to the eyeball stage, it seems that the scale effect is still the master of profit. Look at the turmoil that has recently occurred in the field of search and email, whether it is Gmail, which is a beautiful launch, or the bottom line of the domestic major households, and everyone is doing the same thing: A round of competition is prepared to do a good job, at least the competitor is inexpensive on the basis of mailbox space. Just in terms of strategy, some people have chosen to take the initiative, and some people choose to be calm. As Zhou Hong believes, although the expansion of Yahoo Mail needs to invest 1 to 200 million US dollars, this investment is reasonable, it is necessary to investigate the website of Yahoo.
What is the profit of the depth of profit? In the reincarnation process of competition, although its technical essence has not changed fundamental, will there be a scale-based integration and integration? Those traditional portals have become increasingly interested in searching technology. For example, from last year, Yahoo has been obviously strengthened to the power of search engine technology. Starked SCOTTKESLER STCTTTTLER STCTTTTLER STCTTTLER: "Yahoo will have a huge growth potential in searching business sectors." According to Nielsen / Netratings, Yahoo's current monthly visits It is 60% higher than Google. For those users who use Google and access Yahoo, once Yahoo has strengthened their search technology, those users who have ran to choose Google in order to find some things, they will always stay in Yahoo. The article "Business Week" believes that compared with Google, Yahoo will occupy more advantages in its advertising customers, and large online advertising customers will generally be more optimistic about Yahoo. Of course, this is just the wishes and opportunities for Yahoo!, and google sitting in the market will definitely change it. Google has already taken out innovative applications with mass storage and automatic search in Gmail, which has indicated the integration of competitive situation. Although Google has always insisted on the unique simple interface design and payment advertising link mode, there is already analyzed that Google, which is listed, will eventually make a choice between its consistent principles and investors to increase their income. Google said in its IPO file, it will make adjustments on the site on time, but this adjustment will be difficult to judge. However, Google still insists: do not allow advertisers to affect the order of their search results. Another more terrible competitor Microsoft is also working with MSN to integrate newly created search technologies into its Windows operating system. If Microsoft's plan has become a reality, with the absolute dominance of Windows in the PC field, Microsoft's search technology will inertility and convenience will have some congenital advantages. Microsoft is even bluntly said that its new generation of search technology will exceed Google and Yahoo search technology. It's not difficult to imagine. If the user can use the Word, Outlook to use Microsoft's search technology as a kit of the daily office, how is Google and Yahoo's days? More terrible is that Microsoft is patient, even if it faces loss, Gates will continue to wait for the maturity of the market. This is also the MSN that can always stick to today, and always improve and add more functional causes. Although Google has stated that after the Gmail business is officially implemented, it will be adjusted according to the actual needs of the market to provide effective email solutions to major companies. However, regardless of security or stability, it is difficult to replace IBM LOUTS / NOTES and Microsoft Outlook / Exchange, and many large and medium-sized companies still need a set of powerful and stable operation. The internal mail system. Therefore, it is difficult to make this big one by searching technology known Google. Moreover, Google's largest competitor Yahoo, MSN and AOL except for huge registered users, each has a highly known instant messaging software, such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo and AOL Instant Messenger, each software behind There is a huge user base. According to Nielsen / Netratings, MSN is the most successful in overseas market, and Yahoo. Although Google can search 97 languages, its global users are behind MSN and Yahoo.
Even the QQ of Tencent has almost monopolized the domestic market, and in addition to the successful wireless value-added business and the game business, QQ has also begun to attach an email address in the original online chat tool. Those basic class applications on the Internet are integrated and integrated at an unprecedented speed. The purpose is only one, increasing the depth of profit. However, it is also the critical that Google has had to do for the driving force of the sustainable development. This is also the key to the long-lasting development of any Internet media company. For example, Google, in addition to the email business Gmail, social network orkut business, and product shopping comparison business, Google's next goal has aimed at Wi-Fi Search. "If we cannot introduce search technology for handheld equipment, the company will lose an important emerging network market." Google is developing a new technology, you can display the current web page normally on the phone screen. If the direction of Google is correct, winning the market should be just a matter of time. IDC analyst Keith Wayras said: "By then, the wireless network search market will meet a market competition, because wireless operators have tried to seek wireless search technology for their own." And there is already an email that has already been integrated into wireless, future Bearing more features, in addition to sending large capacity content such as pictures, audio, video, email, may even evolve into an important platform for personal information management and corporate business processes. Such trend has been fully reflected in IBM and Microsoft's enterprise-oriented system platforms, and Google and portals have to do can only be close to such trends from their respective angles. Not long before the innovation of the era, Sohu quietly passed the news, and its full-scale information search engine technology has entered the test stage and plans to officially launch a new search technology in the third quarter of this year. "Technology is independent of the portal search independent self-improvement, mastering core technology, expanding search traffic is the key to maintaining search engine core competitiveness," Wang Jianjun, Vice President Sohu said. Sohu, which has been deliberately low-key, does not want such a move to attract too much attention to competitors. Prior to this, China's three major portals in China, including Sina, Sohu, and NetEase have adopted a technical outsourcing strategy for search services. However, as Google is cut into business linkage, Sina Sohu will have to directly face the pressure from Google, Yahoo and MSN, etc., all of them have their own magic weapons, emails, search technology, and instant messaging software. There are also a lot. Do you have to continue to choose technology outsourcing in front of them? The search engine core competitiveness is reflected in the long-term consideration of the large portal must do. "The key elements of the main Chinese search engine market are powerful algorithms, the sum of content and services, the number of registered users, global, brand and accessibility," Yahoo is responsible for searching for the senior vice president of the search business Jeff Wailina Tao. Of course, if all elements mentioned by Jeff are already mentioned, then it will dominate the market not only the Chinese search engine market. The domestic major gates must begin to seriously think about such problems: will the lack of core technology will have a major impact on future competitive patches? How do you have improved product homogeneration in the current product and business innovation? However, some of Sina Sohu's efforts have at least noted that everyone has realized that the control of self-owned core technologies is precisely the innovation of the post-profit era. Getting the door to see this market, more and more signs indicate that more combinations of Internet applications have become trends, like MSN, Tencent QQ has used mail as part of instant messaging.
Zhou Hong, President, Yahoo District, believes that the email is in so many years, in addition to the capacity plus, the server is plus, the agreement, the technology has not changed, but the e-mailbox is the oldest, most traditional application in the Internet, once a breakthrough capacity limit Make everyone no longer care about the capacity, it is likely that the Internet application produces another change. The combination of search, instant messaging, and mailbox may be the breakthrough point of the entire battlefield, which is the model of the network service afterwards. We are hard to imagine that the combination of the three will be a kind of product, maybe it is no longer important, it is important to provide the services provided by people and the true "Qianjing" brought to the service provider. The more far from the eyes, after "integration", the network service mode may be a social software that links the relationship between people with people in a more accurate way. The integration of the internet industry seems to be keenly discovered the "integration" market, but what is the direction of the integrated? Obviously, different Internet companies are expanding from their respective footprints and advantages, only different in the direction of integration. For example, in Yahoo South Korea's mailbox expansion, there is an analysis that this method is just as a way to transfer other payment services to the user. With the upgrade of Yahoo's global search engine, this month will provide users with access to users. The specific function of the database, free mailbox will also become an extension channel for Yahoo's latest search technology Yst. Google is also the same. Experts have done a survey, I want to know, "When will people use the most searching", the result is very unexpected, and it is when people read and write emails. This means that if the user can search directly in the mailbox, the search quantity is likely to increase, and people will easily search for email content in their own large-capacity mailbox. This may be that Google decides to make a mailbox product, and it is also the reason for the panic of each company. But "the feet is short, the inch" determines that Google is impossible in the market, and each family has their own killer applications. The key is the innovation and integration of the product. In the field of instant messaging, Microsoft and QQ have already embed the function of the mail open into the interface of the instant messaging software. The next possibility is to join the search function, so that the user can directly activate other information as long as the user can open the instant messaging software. Key application. Netease, Sina, Sohu have included instant messaging into their 2004 strategic development planning. Like Alibaba and Hui Cong, the transformation of instant communication products is conducted to our target users. First, Alibaba has launched the "trade pass" for merchants, and then HC has also launched "information". HC CIO Huang Hai New said that China's business people rarely use instant communication tools such as QQ, our positioning and Tencent are different, it is not a simple instant messaging tool, information integration of HC's industry information, business machine search, information Customization and other functions are tailored to the businessman looking for business opportunities. "And Alibaba website integrates online information and merchants in online behavior. An analyst at the Internet Lab said that No matter Alibaba or HC, it is rushing to enhance the viscosity and interaction between customers and the two. Their common point is a huge business opportunity contained in information, how to play the biggest advantage of their respective databases, and make the fleeting business opportunities to implement the reason for the introduction of these two products. Social software The night before, however, the value of email and instant messaging has long been low in far away. In people's eyes, they are just the Internet's free tools, can only be used to cage users, attracting other pay business, or using scale economy to form advertising The most description of tools and advertising properties are search services. Its essence determines that it does not have the effect of directly grasping the user (no registration, the conversion cost is low), but the result is deeper from the tool level, Google's successful advertising mode It is also a proactive search economy model for people.
