MTL - Reborn Russia As An Oligarch-Chapter 870 flames

  Chapter 870 Beacon smoke everywhere

  For Internet companies, the number of users, or traffic, is of course very important, and it can be said to be the lifeblood of a company.

   But after getting traffic, how to realize it is a more important element!

  If your traffic cannot be realized, then this is garbage traffic, which means that the company can only burn money in order to maintain this huge traffic. It needs to pay huge server and bandwidth fees every month, as well as high staff salaries.

   but without corresponding income...

  High expenditure, low income, such a company can talk about the future!

   Therefore, ICQ, which was popular all over the world at the beginning, could only sell itself to traditional media giants at a relatively low price because it could not find a channel to monetize its traffic.

   And the current Penguin company can be said to be facing such a dilemma.

  The number of users is sufficient and the traffic is large enough, but no suitable way to monetize the traffic has been found.

   It looks very "prosperous" on the surface, but in fact it is full of crises!

   It is very appropriate to use one word to describe the current penguins, that is "false prosperity"...

  Because the number of users is growing relatively fast, Penguin investors are still patient and willing to give the company more time.

  But as the growth rate of the number of users slows down, the importance of revenue will become prominent.

  If the company still can’t find a suitable way to monetize the traffic by then, the patience of investors will be exhausted, and Penguin will also turn from the current “unicorn company” into a garbage company…

  Penguin has now reached this critical stage.

  The number of users is enough, and we must start to find a way to convert these users into financial revenue!

   To this end, the management of Xiao Ma and Penguin also thought of many ways.

  For example, open paid registration, QQ club, good account business, advertising business, etc.

   These have been launched one by one in the past two years, but the effect is conceivable and not ideal. Some businesses have even brought huge public opinion pressure and infamy to Penguin...

   Just like its advertising business, the earliest QQ users should still remember it.

  There was a rectangular area above the QQ chat box at that time, which was used to display advertisements.

   This is the earliest method QQ used to try to monetize traffic, and it was also the traffic monetization method that all companies in the Internet industry would use at that time, Internet advertising!

  It's a pity that QQ is an instant chat software on the Internet, and the chat box is not very big, so there is only a small area that can be used for advertising.

   At this point, it is completely incomparable with those portal websites.

  The advertisements on the portal website can even occupy the entire monitor screen of the entire user, and the display effect is naturally far better than that on QQ.

  So, apart from peers, that is, other Internet companies who are willing to advertise on QQ to attract users, no real traditional industry users are willing to advertise on QQ.

   Not only because the advertising display area was too small, but also because the "quality" of QQ users at that time was too poor.

  The high-quality Internet users are still using MSN, and those who use QQ are generally young people. In the eyes of advertisers, they belong to the category with poor spending power...

   Therefore, QQ’s advertising business did not bring much revenue to the company.

  As for paid registration, that is, to pay to register a new Q number, this incident caused an uproar at the time, and Penguin almost "died".

   After a trial run for a period of time, it quietly went offline.

  Other Q clubs and pretty account businesses can only be said to be better than nothing. They belong to mosquito legs and cannot solve the problem.

  Penguin at that time, the real main income came from the mobile Internet.

   Yes, in 2004, the mobile Internet was booming.

  By cooperating with Monternet, Penguin has brought a lot of income. This income is also the largest source of income for Penguin!

  In 2003, Penguin’s annual revenue was 730 million RMB, of which 600 million came from Monternet’s share...

  ...

  Actually, for Penguin in 2004, the inability to realize traffic was not the most important issue.

   There is a more serious problem that even threatens the survival of penguins, which is in front of Brother Xiao Ma and the others.

  In the history of China's Internet, when it comes to online instant messaging software, the time node of 2004 must not be avoided.

  Many people use "Battle of the Gods" to describe this year's brutal war between Internet instant messaging software...

  Perhaps it was because of Brother Ma and his coquettish operations in the past two years that the competitors saw an opportunity.

   It may also be that the original business development of many major Internet companies has reached a bottleneck, so they have become interested in instant messaging software, a segmented field that can bring huge traffic, although it cannot make money.

   All in all, during this year, Xiao Ma and the others suddenly discovered that special competitors appeared in the market.

   Moreover, they are all very powerful big companies, and they have launched their own instant messaging software one after another to directly start hand-to-hand combat with Penguin.

  NetEase launched NetEase Bubble in 2002, and its market share ranks third after Penguin and MSN.

  In 2004, Mr. Ding announced that NetEase Bubble would be upgraded to a strategic product, and the project manager reported directly to him.

  In June 2004, NetEase held a press conference, announcing that it had made a breakthrough in technology. NetEase Bubbles could directly send voice messages. Not only could NetEase Bubble users communicate with each other, but they could even make voice calls with mobile phone users!

   This technology was absolutely amazing at the time!

  As long as the policy allows, it can go online immediately, which is much more advanced than the penguins at that time...

  In addition to Netease Paopao, a competitor, there is also MSN of the global Internet giant Microsoft. Although the number of users is slightly smaller than that of Penguin, the quality of users is very high.

  The white-collar workers in those years basically used MSN. If you said that you used Penguin, you would be embarrassed to say hello to people...

  In 2004, Bill Gates came to China for the ninth time, and solemnly announced that he would continue to expand domestic investment, and set up MSN China's market and R&D centers in the capital and Shanghai.

  In this year, NetEase and Microsoft are not the only companies that rushed into the instant messaging market and wanted to compete with Penguin for users.

  There are also Yahoo Messenger from Yahoo, Sina UC from Sina, TOM introduced SKYPE, Sohu’s Soq, 263’s E-Phone, Netcom’s Instant Messenger, Alibaba’s Tradelink...

  Even domestic telecom operators have entered this market to join in the fun. China Telecom launched VIM…

  At the same time, China Mobile's Fetion is already in the making...

  According to statistics, there were more than 200 instant messaging software in China at the time.

  For penguins, it can be said that wars are everywhere, and everyone is enemy!

  ...

   It's just that Wang Ye hasn't mentioned this point yet, he just asked Brother Xiao Ma about the company's revenue, which made Brother Xiao Ma a little confused about how to answer.

  Brother Xiao Ma is also an honest person, he doesn't want to deceive Wang Ye with his mouth full of lies.

  So after talking for a long time, I couldn't hold back a word.

"Hey, Mr. Mikhail, I've actually been thinking about this issue. It's just that I haven't thought of a good solution yet. In addition, the company is facing great competitive pressure this year, and many companies have launched instant messaging software. So In my opinion, the most important thing for the company at present is not revenue, but to defend its basic market, that is, users!"

   This sentence is still very sincere, and it is also the true thought of Xiao Ma.

Wang Ye nodded and said appreciatively: "Although I haven't come to the company for the past two years, I know something about the situation here. I know all the things you said, and I have thought about it. This time Come here, my main purpose is to help the company solve these problems."

  Brother Xiao Ma looked at Wang Ye in surprise, and couldn't believe what he said.

   Just kidding, people like myself are experts in the domestic Internet industry. After racking their brains all day long, they still can't think of how to solve these problems.

  Mr. Mikhail has been abroad and is busy with official duties, so he needs to worry about more and more important things every day.

  Can he figure out how to solve the penguin's troubles?

  Perhaps this is really possible. After all, at the "height" that Mr. Mikhail is at, the field of vision and layout are naturally beyond the reach of ordinary people like himself.

  The ways and means to solve the problem may also be beyond my imagination.

  Otherwise, why am I just an ordinary entrepreneur, facing so many difficulties in starting a business, and he is already in a high position at a young age, and the two political and business "take it all"...

  Since learning about Mikhail's identity and background, Xiao Ma was really shocked.

   That is to say, the Internet is not very developed these days, and Mikhail is still abroad, so the domestic people cannot get in touch with him.

   Otherwise, it would be hard for Xiao Ma to imagine what kind of sensation it would cause.

  Wang Ye understood what he was thinking and didn't explain too much. He just smiled and said, "Let's talk about it in detail when we get to the company. Don't worry, I will stay in Pengcheng for two or three days."

  Brother Ma nodded, full of anticipation in his heart.

   After all, he is the one who most hopes that Penguin can become better. This company is his entire business.

  ...

  Penguin has now moved to the Fiyta Building in South S District, and the number of employees has expanded to nearly 2,000, making it a big company.

  The hotel where Wang Ye stayed is not far from the Penguin headquarters.

  The motorcade came to the hotel first, checked in, and let Wang Ye and his entourage take a rest and wash up.

  According to Wang Ye's instructions, Xiao Ma and the others waited downstairs. About half an hour later, Wang Ye and the others went downstairs to the car and went straight to the Penguin headquarters.

   It's not time for lunch yet, just in time for a high-level meeting.

  In the large conference hall of the headquarters, several founders of Penguin, as well as top management personnel gathered together.

  Wang Ye sat in the main seat without hesitation, Xiao Ma sat beside him, and assistant Bakova sat behind Wang Ye.

  Brother Xiao Ma stood up with a smile on his face, and said loudly: "Let us give the warmest applause to welcome the arrival of the company's major shareholder, Mr. Mikhail!"

  All the people present stood up in unison and applauded enthusiastically.

  Wang Ye stood up and bowed slightly to express his gratitude.

   Then press down with both hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

After the applause stopped, Wang Ye smiled and said: "Under the leadership of Mr. Ma and everyone, Penguin has developed rapidly in the past two years and achieved very good results. Although I am not in the company, my heart is with me. Everyone has been together, happy and proud of every progress the company has made..."

  Wang Ye's words made everyone beaming, after all, this is the praise and recognition from the major shareholders!

   But after talking about it, Wang Ye changed the subject again, his face became serious, and he said in a heavy tone:

  “Through communicating with Mr. Ma and collecting market information, I learned that the company is also facing great challenges.

  Our own business revenue has encountered a bottleneck, and the market competition has become increasingly fierce.

   This year and next year are crucial two years for our Penguin company.

   If this difficulty is overcome, then the future Penguin Company will surely develop into an Internet giant that can be counted among the country and even the world!

  But if you fail to pass this threshold, then I don't need to say more about what will happen. "

  The atmosphere in the conference room became serious. Everyone present was very clear about the current situation of the company, and naturally understood that Wang Ye was not trying to scare people, but telling the truth.

  Wang Ye turned to look at Brother Ma and said, "President Ma, I want to ask you a question."

  Mr. Ma immediately sat upright and said seriously: "Mr. Mikhail, please speak."

   "For QQ, what is the positioning of you and the founders?" Wang Ye asked.

  Brother Xiao Ma was a little at a loss, because this question is too simple, he blurted out: "Instant messaging software."

Wang Ye shook his head, obviously not satisfied with the answer given by Xiao Ma, he said in a deep voice: "I think QQ is definitely more than just a communication software. In my eyes, its more important meaning is It's an entrance, the entrance to the Internet!"

   "Internet entrance..." Xiao Ma repeated in a murmur.

   The concept was a little new to him.

   It’s not that this term is so new, but that at that time, Internet practitioners regarded portal websites and search engines more as Internet entrances.

   No one thinks that instant messaging software is an Internet portal, they just regard this kind of software as a communication tool.

  But now, Wang Ye proposes that instant messaging software can also become an Internet portal!

  The rest of the senior managers also started whispering, everyone was discussing in low voice whether this new concept put forward by Wang Ye was reasonable or not.

  Wang Ye smiled lightly and continued:

   "What is an entrance?

  In my opinion, as long as it is the first website or software to be opened after the user connects to the Internet, it can be called an entrance!

  Before, that is, in the early days of the Internet, the portal website was the entrance, because the information that users need to obtain is all on the portal website.

   Then, the search engine also becomes the portal, because it provides the search function that users need.

  So why can't instant messaging software be the entrance! "

   This was coded last night. It was updated in advance today, and it will be available tonight.

  (end of this chapter)