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[derhaase]

SOHU.com Launches New Game Channel Offering Online I-go and Chess

BEIJING, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- SOHU.com (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of the most popular Internet portals in Mainland China, has formed a strategic partnership with Beijing Globallink Computer Technology Co. Ltd, the largest Chinese online game portal site, to launch a new game channel. The co-branded channel will offer Internet users a new variety of online games that suit the preferences and playing habits of Chinese Internet users.

Starting with the introduction of the popular games I-go and Bridge, the site will soon feature up to 13 interactive games, including Hidden Chess, Chinese Chess, Chess, Heart Battle and Sprinter. The new site can be accessed through SOHU.com at qipai.sohu.com

The Globallink Network Games World, operated by Beijing Globallink Computer Technology Co. Ltd, is the largest Chinese game site with 3 million registered users worldwide. On average, 32,000 players are online simultaneously. Globallink offers users high-speed connections for playing games through its servers located in many cities around China as well as other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Through our strategic partnership with Globallink we can offer our users a new and exciting experience. We are pleased to have interactive games on our site, marking a further step towards making SOHU.com the most comprehensive Internet portal in China", said Charles Zhang, president and CEO of SOHU.com.

The new site offers interactive functions allowing Internet users to play and chat with their playing mates at the same time. Users play by downloading the software, which allows them to keep all previous scores and compare rankings with other players. The newly launched game channel will also report on new developments in the game industry and offer tips on how to play a better game. SOHU.com will sell club cards for online games that also offer online and offline benefits, such as consultation with professional players and discounts for entertainment events. About SOHU.com

SOHU.com is one of mainland China`s most recognized and established Internet brands and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese who use the portal for their e-mail, home page, chat, messaging, news, search, browsing and shopping. Apart from continuous product and services development, SOHU.com also concentrates its efforts on making the Internet ubiquitously available, whether in the office, at home or on the road. As of this release, page views per day have reached 25 million and registered users total 4.5 million. SOHU.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of the pioneers of Internet in China, is in its fourth year of operation.


____________________________________________________________
Sohu.com in talks to buy rival ChinaRen -source
By Matt Pottinger

BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Chinese Web portal Sohu.com Inc <SOHU.O> is in talks to acquire competitor ChinaRen, a source familiar with the talks said on Friday.

If a deal is struck, it would boost Nasdaq-listed Sohu`s market share dramatically and provide a fresh source of funds to ChinaRen as it burns to the bottom of its cash box, said the source, who requested anonymity.

It could also trigger a flurry of acquisitions and mergers by Sohu`s listed competitors, including Sina.com <SINA.O> and Netease.com <NTES.O>, as they seek to put their IPO spoils to use.

An acquisition would probably entail a transfer of Sohu <SOHU.O> stock to ChinaRen`s shareholders, who include the company`s trio of young founders, and an investment fund managed by Goldman Sachs, the source said. (!!!)*

Sohu chairman Charles Zhang and chief financial officer Thomas Gurnee declined to comment.

ChinaRen co-founder Nick Yang confirmed his company was in acquisition talks, but declined to say with whom. "We have been in talks to be acquired," Yang said. POTENTIAL BOOST FOR SHARE PRICE

Sohu`s site, www.sohu.com, is a search engine and portal modelled after U.S.-based giant Yahoo! Inc <YHOO.O>.

ChinaRen -- www.chinaren.com -- is more narrowly focused, drawing a high concentration of young Chinese university graduates with whom the site`s alumni chatrooms are a big hit.

For Sohu, buying ChinaRen would add three million registered users to its existing four million -- a big advantage for a company whose focus is online advertising.

That may help lift its share price, which is far off its already disappointing July 12 listing price of $13.

Sohu`s stock ended on Thursday at $7-5/16, up from a close of $6-6/16 the previous day.

But a deal would apparently do little to boost Sohu`s revenue in the short term since China`s online advertising market is still small.

ChinaRen aims to break even on an operational basis late next year, according to Yang.

And Sohu, which has $79 million in cash, said it did not expect to turn a profit until 2003. "BIGGEST IN GREATER CHINA" ChinaRen said a link-up was not a foregone conclusion.

John Cheng, the company`s chief financial officer, denied the firm was in financial straits, saying it had several options for funding besides merger or acquisition.

"If we do merge with a partner, it would not be because of the financial situation of the company," Cheng said. "We can get more funding independently."

The source who told Reuters the companies were in talks said ChinaRen had raised roughly $10 million since it was launched a year ago by Yang, Joseph Chen and Nick Yang, who met at Stanford University in the United States. Most cash came from Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area.

But its cash store was now under $1.0 million, the source said. Management has introduced austerity measures to cut costs, including sacking 40 of its 240 staff.

Cheng said the company would preserve its brand name for at least the near term if it did merge.

He also said that if it did agree to merge or be bought out, it would be with a partner which would allow the new company to be the biggest, in terms of regeistered users and page views, in Greater China.

He said Sohu, Netease, Sina and Hong Kong-based Chinadotcom, all fit that bill.

REUTERS

*Muss ich das übersetzen?!
weiter gehts!!! derhaase

[derhaase]

!

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[Reiner Zufall]

Neues Mega-Portal: Sohu.com übernimmt ChinaRen.com



Wie erwartet wurde hat Sohu.com heute offiziell die Akquisition von ChinaRen.com bekannt gegeben. Sohu.com, die an der Nasdaq notieren, zahlt für das Portal 30 Mill US-$ in neuen Aktien. Durch die Übernahme möchte man das größte chinesische Portal schaffen. Die Übernahme soll bis Ende Oktober abgeschlossen sein. Nach dem Zusammenschluß plant man keine Spin-Offs, auch Entlassungen sind kein Thema.

Die neue Unternehmen wird dann täglich mehr als 7,8 Mill Nutzer haben, die jeden Tag 44 Mill Page Views erzeugen. Nach Firmenangaben überschneiden sich die Nutzer kaum, da ChinaRens Nutzer meist unter den städtischen Jugendlichen zu finden sind. Sohu.coms Kunden werden aus allen Schichten und Regionen rekrutiert.

Erste Gewinne wollen die Unternehmen 2001 (ChinaRen) bzw. 2003 (Sohu.com) erwirtschaften.
Sohu.com konnte gestern in New York 1,8 % auf 7 $ gewinnen.

[derhaase]

Iamasia survey finds China local portals in lead
By Bei Bei She

HONG KONG, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Horizontal portals operated in China by mainland Internet companies are reaching a wider audience than multinational portals that offer local content, according to a survey conducted by Hong Kong-based Interactive Audience Measurement Asia Ltd (iamasia) for August 2000.

"Horizontal portals comprise a large number of top (web)sites in China, this means there is going to be a lot of competition as well as a lot of...consolidation," Kevin Tan, founder and chief executive officer of iamasia, said on Thursday.

Horizontal portals are generally defined as websites that aim to capture general interest by offering content including sports, news and finance, whereas vertical portals are often platforms that contain various elements relating to a specific industry or topic.

Chinese language sites beat out English sites operated by Yahoo <YHOO.O> and Microsoft <MSFT.O> which have links to Chinese content.

The survey ranked 163.com, operated by Nasdaq-listed Netease.com <NTES.O> as the top China portal with 3.41 million unique home Internet users in August.

The Sina.com.cn <SINA.O> portal came in second with 2.90 million users, and sohu.com <SOHU.O> followed in third place with 2.84 million users.

All three top portals in the iamasia China survey are headquartered in Beijing and listed their U.S. assets on the Nasdaq earlier this year. But none have reached profitability.

By contrast, the Silicon-Valley based global portal giant yahoo.com <YHOO.O> came in at sixth with just 1.58 million of unique Chinese home users for the month of August.

Other multinational heavy-weights microsoft.com and msn.com fared even worse, landing in 10th place with 1.22 million users and 11th place with 1.19 million users respectively. UNUSUAL RESULTS

Tan, a former executive with A.C. Nielsen China, said the survey results for China were unusual because multinational portals have often been able to beat out indigenous portals by offering local content.

Iamasia`s unique home Internet user figures were calculated based on a pool of 4,000 panelists located in 18 major mainland cities.

Also, three of the top 20 portals in the survey are operated by Netease; the other two are 126.com at 17th place and yeah.net at fourth place.

Meanwhile, fifth ranked portal chinaren.com was acquired by third ranked sohu.com this week for new sohu.com shares estimated at a current market value of about US$30 million.

The high profile china.com <CHINA.O> placed eighth with 1.40 million users and 20.9 percent reach in the August survey. The Hong Kong-based company was the first China Internet company to list on the Nasdaq in 1999.

((Hong Kong Newsroom [phone], Fax [phone] [e-mail]))

REUTERS

*(hechel..., wenn das nicht nach einer Yahoo-Story aussieht.)

[derhaase]

SOHU.com Teams with Baidu to Provide the Fastest Chinese Search Engine Capabilities

BEIJING, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- SOHU.com (Nasdaq: SOHU), one of China`s most popular Internet portals, today announced a strategic partnership with Baidu, developer of the most powerful Chinese search engine technology, to provide the premier knowledge resource on the Internet in Mainland China. With the power of Baidu, SOHU.com is unlocking the vast Internet to provide immediate access to the richest, most relevant information across multiple dimensions, including news, sports, business, real estate, IT, education, career, fashion, entertainment, music and games. With the acquisition of ChinaRen.com earlier this month, SOHU.com is now the largest Internet portal in China with over 7.8 million active registered users and over 44 million page views daily.

"Baidu`s search technology addresses many Chinese-specific search-related needs that have never been addressed before by any other company," said Robin Li, president of Baidu. "We are pleased to be working with such a prestigious organization as SOHU.com to provide new, industry-leading search engine features to better meet the needs of the constantly growing population of Chinese web users."

The online population in China jumped from 1.5 million to 8.9 million during 1999 alone, and at that rate of growth, China could have the world`s largest Internet population in just five years. In fact, Goldman Sachs predicts Net usage in China will grow to 81 million by 2003. As China prepares to join the World Trade Organization, hundreds of thousands of state enterprises are going online, further fuelling the need for fast, efficient web search results.

Baidu`s search engine is over five times as powerful as any engine in use in China, yet it is designed specifically to meet the unique challenges of what will be one of the largest Internet communities in the world. SOHU.com will take advantage of Baidu`s proprietary architecture to offer one of the fastest search services to web users in China with the most current information available. Frequent data refresh ensures that SOHU.com users will enjoy the most up-to-date Chinese web page indices in the world. With access to as many as 15 million web pages simultaneously, SOHU.com web browsers will also be able to enjoy the most relevant search function technology combined with the fastest response time in the country.

"SOHU.com has gained its popularity due to it being the only Internet portal that focuses on the specific needs in mainland China," said Xin Ye, Chief Technology Officer of SOHU.com. "As a result, we can integrate the right technology that is designed to meet the unique challenges here, and partnering with Baidu, the only search engine built for this purpose, further strengthens our leadership position as the number one brand in the country."

In addition to its branded information and entertainment channels, SOHU.com also offers the most comprehensive directory, email, message board, the first Java-based chat room, and virtual communities. SOHU.com`s founder is Charles Zhang, who returned to China in 1995 after obtaining his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has pioneered the Internet revolution in China. Charles Zhang initially acquired financial backing to establish his company from Professor Edward Roberts (MIT) and Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the MIT Media Lab and author of the international best seller "Being Digital." Currently, SOHU.com`s investors include Intel, Dow Jones, IDG, Morningside, PCCW, Legend and Hikari. About Baidu

Baidu is a leading Internet technology company in China, one of the world`s fastest growing Internet markets. Baidu develops and markets scaleable web application software and services using a private label, "non-compete" business model. Baidu`s flagship product, the Baidu Chinese search engine, is the fastest, largest, most relevant search engine with the freshest crawls in China. The Baidu powered search engine was rated number one in the August issue of PC Computing in China. Robin Li, Baidu`s president and co-founder, pioneered the use of link analysis technology to do relevance ranking in 1996 and was subsequently awarded the U.S. patent on this technology. Baidu has offices in both Silicon Valley and Beijing, China. For more information, please visit www.baidu.com . About SOHU.com

SOHU.com is one of mainland China`s most recognized and established Internet brands and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese who use the portal for their e-mail, home page, chat, messaging, news, search, browsing and shopping. Apart from continuous product and services development, SOHU.com also concentrates its efforts on making the Internet ubiquitously available, whether in the office, at home or on the road. Earlier this month the company agreed to acquire ChenRen.com, the most popular youth community web site in China. As of this release, page views per day for the combined company have reached 44 million and registered users total 7.8 million. SOHU.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China`s Internet pioneers, is in its fourth year of operation. Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SOHU.com historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People`s Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results and the company`s reliance on online advertising sales for substantially all of its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SOHU.com`s prospectus and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[derhaase]

Chinese Web industry,investors warily eye new rules
By Matt Pottinger

BEIJING, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Chinese Internet companies and foreign investors scrambled on Tuesday to assess the impact of new Internet regulations that limit overseas capital and ban politically sensitive content on line.

U.S.-listed Chinese Web firms, including Sina.com <SINA.O> and Sohu.com Inc <SOHU.O>, said they knew about the rules ahead of time and were already complying with the toughest conditions.

But many start-ups, particularly those fuelled with foreign cash, lamented they would have to restructure their businesses and spend precious money on new personnel and technology in order to comply with the rules.

"Why are they going back to the dark ages now?" asked a venture capitalist in Hong Kong, who said he was studying how to restructure the finances of two of his firm`s Chinese Web sites.

The rules, published on Monday, limit foreign stakes in Chinese Web sites to levels laid out in "relevant laws" -- or between zero and 49 percent, according to analysts.

They also hold Web sites responsible for blocking vast categories of content, from pornography and gambling to any kind of political commentary the Communist Party views as threatening.

Web sites must censor and report illegal content, and they must record everything that appears on their sites -- including comments in online chatrooms -- for 60 days. They must open the records to police on demand.

Firms also have to apply for licences to run their Web sites and may be fined or shut down if they deviate from their stated business plans or fail to enforce content restrictions. THE SILVER LINING? CLARITY

The rules gave a black eye to U.S.-listed Chinese Web companies Chinadotcom <CHINA.O>, Sina, Sohu and Netease.com <NTES.O> on Monday, and sent shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese portals sliding on Tuesday, including tom.com Ltd <8001.HK> and hongkong.com Ltd <8006.HK>.

But if there is a silver lining, investors and industry analysts say it is the clarity of the rules: for the first time, Internet start-ups have a iron-caste set of conditions they must meet to open or maintain their business.

"China is trying to be more transparent and in that sense it`s probably a good thing," said Chauncey Shey, managing partner for Softbank China Venture Capital, which has investments in several Chinese Internet start-ups.

Foggy rules and ambiguous statements from regulators have repeatedly tripped up companies that tried to list shares.

Sina.com, Netease.com <NTES.O> and Sohu.com all had to postpone Nasdaq stock offerings for months as their businesses were forced to comply with ad hoc requirements from a battery of government offices.

The new rules lay out a path that, while difficult, shows Internet companies how to win approval, and the office they must win it from, analysts said.

"If we remember Sina, Sohu and Netease`s listings, they were long, painful processes," said Nicholas Spratt, Internet and media analyst at Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong. "If the formalisation speeds that up, it`s actually a positive." THE WILD CARD: POLITICS

But even if a company manages to comply with investment restrictions and successfully persuades the government to issue a licence, it will face a constant threat of closure under the content restrictions, the most sweeping clause of the rules.

The rules forbid everything from information that "harms the reputation" of China or that hurts reunification efforts with Taiwan, to that which "advocates cults and feudal superstition" -- a term often invoked to prosecute members of Falung Gong and other spiritual groups.

By putting the burden on Web firms to ferret out and report such content, China has created a powerful tool for tracking down dissidents and a broad legal justification for dismantling businesses.

Wang Zhidong, president and chief executive officer of Sina.com, said he was not worried the rules would hurt his company.

Sina has already enacted 24 hour supervision of its chat rooms and stores all the content that appears online, he said.

The company keeps in regular contact with police, but most cases concern hackers or suspected criminal activity. Inquiries about politically sensitive content are "very rare," he said.

"China is not as tense politically as it was 20 or 30 years ago," he said. The rules "don`t really have a negative impact on us."

[derhaase]

"Accumulate" Sina <SINA.O>, Sohu <SOHU.O> -Merrill

HONG KONG, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch initiated coverage on Monday of Nasdaq-listed Chinese Internet portals Sina.com and Sohu.com with intermediate-term accumulate recommendations.

The firm`s internet analyst David Cui gave Sina.com a long-term buy rating and Sohu.com a long-term accumulate recommendation in a research report.

Cui said he valued Sina.com at between US$15.80 to US$29.60 per share based on comparables and discounted cash flow analysis, with key risks being its multi-market strategy and a relatively high cost structure. Sina.com edged up 4.2 percent to end at US$9.375 on Friday.

Cui valued Sohu.com at US$7.50 to US$21.20 per share, with risks relating to integration of acquisitions and its relatively weak financial position being his key concerns for the company.

Sohu.com, which recently acquired rival portal ChinaRen.com, skidded 18 percent to close at US$4 on Friday.

((Hong Kong Newsroom, [phone], fax [phone] [e-mail]))

REUTERS

Rtr 08:26 10-09-00

derhaase merkt an, das Sohu.com augenblicklich von 4$ auf 5,5$ angestiegen ist. Nasdaq - SOHU.

[derhaase]

Beijing Starbucks Customers to Enjoy Free Web Access

SOHU.com to Place Computers and Provide Online
Services in Selected Starbucks Stores

BEIJING, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Starbucks customers in Beijing can now enjoy their favorite coffee beverage and surf the web for free at selected Starbucks stores in the Chinese capital. SOHU.com (Nasdaq: SOHU), the most popular Internet portal and online community center for Mainland China, will provide free Internet access in thirteen Starbucks stores in Beijing.

In addition to free Internet access, the SOHU.com magazine will also be available in the Starbucks stores. The magazine will soon be published in a bi-lingual version called SOHU World.

"Starbucks takes great pride in enriching its customers` in-store experience," said David Sun, CEO of Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co. Ltd, a licensee of Starbucks Coffee International since 1999. "We are excited about this unique, strategic alliance with SOHU.com as both our companies are intensely focused on serving customers and providing first-class products and services where and when they need it."

The alliance will heighten customer service and convenience in the following ways on computers supplied by SOHU.com

*Starbucks customers will have access to SOHU.com in selected Starbucks
stores in Beijing, China;
*Starbucks customers and SOHU.com users will have seamless access to the
SOHU.com web site (www.sohu.com), and to the Starbucks web site
(www.starbucks.com) from within the stores.


"The combination of Starbucks and SOHU.com is a natural one, as is browsing the Net and enjoying a cup of coffee," said Charles Zhang, president and CEO of SOHU.com. "The similarities between the customers of Starbucks and SOHU.com make this alliance a value-enhancing opportunity for both companies. Our cooperation will greatly strengthen the brand presence of both companies within the growing Internet community in Beijing." About SOHU.com

SOHU.com is one of mainland China`s most recognized and established Internet brands and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese who use the portal for their e-mail, home page, chat, messaging, news, search, browsing and shopping. Apart from continuous product and services development, SOHU.com also concentrates its efforts on making the Internet ubiquitously available, whether in the office, at home or on the road. In September, the company agreed to acquire ChinaRen.com, the most popular youth community web site in China. As of this release page views per day for the combined company have reached 49 million and registered users total 8.0 million. SOHU.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China`s Internet pioneers, is in its fourth year of operation. About Starbucks (Beijing)

Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co. Ltd, a licensee of Starbucks Coffee International, currently operates 18 Starbucks retail locations in Beijing, China. Starbucks Coffee International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq: SBUX), the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. In addition to Beijing, Starbucks has retail locations in Japan, Hawaii, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kuwait, South Korea, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Qatar, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Australia. Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SOHU.com historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People`s Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results and the company`s reliance on online advertising sales for substantially all of its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SOHU.com`s prospectus and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


/CONTACT: Caroline Straathof, [e-mail], or Beilei Zheng, [e-mail], both of SOHU.com, [phone]; or Robin Lutchansky, [e-mail], or Dan Lutchansky, [e-mail], both of Lutchansky Communications, for SOHU.com, 408-938-9050, or 408-278-7820/

[derhaase]

Forbes Magazine Global Edition Ranks Chinese Portal SOHU.com Among World`s Best Small Companies

BEIJING, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese Internet portal SOHU.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) has been listed among the 300 Best Small Companies for 2001 in the world renowned business publication Forbes Magazine. In its international edition FORTUNE GLOBAL, which hit the newsstands in Asia this week, SOHU.com was selected, along with five other Mainland Chinese companies, to join the exclusive ranks of the 300 best publicly listed companies with a market capitalization of US$500 million or less.

For the second year in a row, FORBES GLOBAL has published a list of the top-300 small companies in the global economy. Forbes based its selection on the expert opinions of money managers, securities analysts and entrepreneurs around the world. Using strict selection criteria, companies had to have a sound financial history or be expected to emerge as important, profitable players in the next year or two.

"These small companies hold out the promise of becoming very large companies. We can`t predict how stock markets will value them next month or next year. We can say this: Dynamism is all about growth and profits; in our opinion these 300 are among the best the world has to offer," FORBES GLOBAL writes in its October 30th edition.

On October 10, SOHU.com ranked first in the largest independent annual media survey in China, conducted by Sinomonitor International. The results of the China Media and Marketing Survey (CMMS) indicated that half of China`s booming Internet community chose SOHU.com as the most preferred first stop portal destination. SOHU.com ranked first in the overall list of most frequently visited sites and scored the Number One position in all sub-rankings by age and gender, reaffirming SOHU.com`s position as the leading Internet brand in China.

Sinomonitor International is the pre-eminent market monitoring company in China providing research analysis for leading multinational corporations. The CMMS was launched in 1997 in cooperation with the China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center, affiliated with the State Statistical Bureau, the official government agency for statistical research.

"It`s been an Olympic week for SOHU.com. Topping the ranks in the Sinomonitor survey, a standard bearer for the media marketing industry, and getting an award from the influential and respected Forbes magazine is like receiving gold medals at the Olympics. It`s extremely gratifying to know that internationally recognized authorities reward all of the hard work we have put into building the No.1 Internet company in China," said Dr. Charles Zhang, president and CEO of SOHU.com. About SOHU.com

SOHU.com is one of mainland China`s most recognized and established Internet brands and indispensable to the daily life of millions of Chinese who use the portal for their e-mail, home page, chat, messaging, news, search, browsing and shopping. Apart from continuous product and services development, SOHU.com also concentrates its efforts on making the Internet ubiquitously available, whether in the office, at home or on the road. In September the company agreed to acquire ChenRen.com, the most popular youth community web site in China. As of this release, page views per day for the combined company have reached 50 million and registered users total 8.0 million. SOHU.com, established by Dr. Charles Zhang, one of China`s Internet pioneers, is in its fourth year of operation. Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SOHU.com historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People`s Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results and the company`s reliance on online advertising sales for substantially all of its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SOHU.com`s prospectus and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


/CONTACT: Caroline Straathof, [e-mail], or Beilei Zheng, [e-mail], both of SOHU.com, [phone]; or Robin Lutchansky, 408-938-9050, or [e-mail], or Dan Lutchansky, 408-278-7820, or [e-mail], both of Lutchansky Communications, for SOHU.com/