Baidu buys live-streaming service YY as it seeks to catch rivals such as ByteDance and Tencent in new online ad channels
- Advertising was pressured in China at the beginning of the year due to the pandemic but it has since recovered in line with the overall economy
- CEO Robin Li expects money from live-streaming to play a key part in diversifying Baidu’s revenue sources going forward
Chinese search engine giant Baidu is buying streaming platform YY Live from social media firm JOYY Inc for about US$3.6 billion as it continues to broaden beyond its traditional search engine business and catch up with competitors such as ByteDance and Tencent Holdings in new online advertising channels.
“The addition of YY Live will enable us to gain platform and operating experience in large-scale video social media,” said Baidu CEO Robin Li on Tuesday, adding that combined with Baidu’s existing short video platforms such as Haokan, money from live-streaming will play a key part in diversifying its revenue sources going forward.
Founded in 2005, JOYY enables users to interact with each other in real-time through online live media and offers users an “immersive entertainment experience”, according to information on its website. JOYY’s products include YY Live, Bigo Live, Likee, imo and Hago. The sale also includes the YY mobile app and YY.com website.
In its Monday earnings announcement in the US, Li said revenue growth “had turned positive in the third quarter with many advertising verticals turning around”. Online marketing revenue from what the company calls “Baidu Core” was 18.4 billion yuan, which was basically flat from last year.
Advertising was pressured in China at the beginning of the year due to the pandemic but it has since recovered in line with an economy that rebounded from a record contraction of 6.8 per cent in the first quarter to 4.9 per cent growth in the third.