Sohu.com

What Sohu.com does

Sohu.com Limited is a Cayman Islands-incorporated Chinese online media and gaming company, headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District, that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing digital properties serving the mainland Chinese internet audience. Founded in 1995 by Zhang Chaoyang, Sohu is listed on NASDAQ under ticker SOHU and employs between 5,001 and 10,000 people. Its business is organized around two reporting segments: online media (proprietary platforms including the Sohu News App, Sohu Video App, Sohu Mail, Sohu Blog, and a website spanning 41 content verticals) and online gaming, conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiary Changyou, which publishes flagship MMORPG titles such as the Tian Long Ba Bu franchise and operates the 17173 gaming portal.

The company monetizes primarily through (a) in-game virtual goods and subscriptions in the Changyou gaming segment, which generated approximately $125 million in Q1 2026 (up 6% year-over-year) and represented the dominant revenue contributor, and (b) brand advertising and marketing services across Sohu's owned media properties, which contributed roughly $13 million in Q1 2026 (down 8% year-over-year). Full-year 2025 revenue was $584 million, down 2% from the prior year, indicating a stabilized but mildly contracting top line at the legacy media level, partially offset by modest gaming growth. Distribution is almost entirely through owned digital channels, with cross-promotion of Changyou titles inside Sohu's media apps serving as a low-cost acquisition channel.

Recent strategic activity centers on content IP expansion — including the launch of Zhang Chaoyang's English Class, a Focus Stream vertical dedicated to the 2026 World Cup, and the 2025 release of Tian Long Ba Bu: Return — alongside regulatory and disclosure obligations (FY2025 Form 20-F filed March 12, 2026). The business is supported by a substantial net cash position ($830.7M–$1.2B in cash and investments versus $358M in liabilities as of late Q1 2026), giving it unusual balance-sheet flexibility relative to peers, though FY2025 GAAP net income of $394 million was materially inflated by a roughly $285 million deferred tax asset recognition. Stripping out the tax benefit, underlying profitability is thinner, and management has guided to a Q2 2026 GAAP net loss of $15–25 million.

Name

Sohu.com

Legal name

Sohu.com Limited

Website

https://sohu.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Sohu.com is a Beijing-based Chinese online media and gaming company serving mainland Chinese internet users through proprietary news, video, and email platforms, plus a wholly-owned Changyou gaming subsidiary that publishes MMORPG franchises such as Tian Long Ba Bu and monetizes via in-game virtual goods and brand advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Media and Gaming

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (5162), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)

akta.pro primary industry

News & Content Aggregation Portals (BPAMAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Gaming Media Networks & Aggregators (Multi-site Networks, RSS/Content Syndication) (MPAFAMAJ)

Keywords

• Online media
• Online gaming
• Video streaming
• News portal
• Digital content

Headquarters

HQ city

Haidian

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Online Game Revenues: Revenue from online games conducted through subsidiary Changyou. Online game revenues grew 6% year-over-year to US$125 million in Q1 2026, driven by titles like Tian Long Ba Bu: Return. Q4 2025 online game revenues grew 10% year-over-year to US$120 million.
2. Marketing Services Revenues: Marketing services revenues declined 8% year-over-year to US$13 million in Q1 2026. This segment represents advertising services on Sohu's media platforms.
3. Online Media Platform: Revenue from online media operations including Sohu News App and Sohu Video App, with advertising and promotional content services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sohu.com operates a portfolio of Chinese-language online media and gaming services, including the Sohu News App and Sohu Video App for news and video content distribution, the Sohu creator platform that aggregates user-generated content, and the Changyou gaming subsidiary that develops and operates online games. The 17173 gaming portal aggregates game information and serves as a discovery hub for Changyou titles, while Sohu's online marketing services monetize the company's large Chinese consumer user base through advertising.

Product overview

Sohu.com operates as a comprehensive Chinese online media platform offering a portfolio of products including the core Sohu News App for news aggregation, Sohu Video App for video streaming and live broadcasts, and the Changyou gaming subsidiary for online games. The company also provides complementary services like Sohu Mail (email), Sohu Blog (blogging), and Sohu (creator platform). The gaming segment is conducted through subsidiary Changyou, which operates the 17173 gaming portal and publishes online game titles. The platform covers content across diverse channels including news, sports, finance, entertainment, technology, education, health, and gaming, serving millions of users in mainland China.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sohu News App: Online news platform mobile application
• Sohu Video App
• Changyou
• Sohu Video
• Sohu News

Products and services

• Sohu News App Mobile application delivering Chinese-language news content to consumers on iOS and Android devices, forming a core part of Sohu's online media portfolio.
• Sohu Video App Mobile video application offering video content to Chinese consumers, complementing Sohu's online media portfolio alongside the news app.
• Changyou Online Games Portfolio of online games developed and operated by Sohu's Changyou subsidiary, generating subscription and recurring revenue from Chinese gamers and accounting for the largest share of Sohu's revenue (approximately $125 million in Q1 2026).
• Sohu (Creator Platform) Online creator platform that aggregates user-generated content from Chinese creators, supporting Sohu's media ecosystem and content distribution.
• 17173 Gaming Portal Gaming information and discovery portal that serves as a hub for online game information and access to Changyou titles.
• Sohu Online Marketing Services Advertising and marketing services sold to brand advertisers seeking reach across Sohu's consumer media properties (news, video, and gaming platforms), generating approximately $13 million in Q1 2026.

Quantifiable outcome

• Q1 2026 revenue up 4% year-over-year to $141 million
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• iQIYI: Leading Chinese long-form video streaming service offering licensed and original content. Directly comparable to Sohu Video in streaming distribution, advertising-supported monetization, and Chinese content licensing economics.
• Sina Corporation: Long-standing Chinese online portal offering news, sports, finance, and entertainment content. Closely matches Sohu's news-portal model, vertical coverage, and China-only consumer audience.
• Youku Tudou: China's other major ad-supported video streaming platform, now part of Alibaba. Comparable to Sohu Video in premium video advertising inventory and competition for sports and drama rights.
• Phoenix New Media: Chinese online media company running ifeng.com portal with news, finance, and entertainment verticals, plus mobile apps and video. Closely matches Sohu's news-portal and digital media business model.
• NetEase: Major Chinese online games and digital media company operating news, music, education, and gaming franchises. Directly comparable to Sohu in combining a flagship news/content portal with a large-scale PC and mobile gaming business.
• Perfect World Games: Chinese publisher and operator of PC and mobile online games, including MMORPGs comparable to Changyou's Tian Long Ba Bu franchise. Directly comparable on gaming revenue model and Chinese regulatory exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Baidu: Dominant Chinese search and information platform with extensive news, video, and AI-driven content surfaces. Comparable to Sohu as a broad-reach Chinese digital content and advertising destination.
• Tencent Holdings: Largest Chinese internet conglomerate with Tencent News, Tencent Video, and Tencent Games. Overlaps with Sohu across every key vertical but operates at vastly larger scale and broader portfolio.

Emerging players

• ByteDance (Toutiao/抖音): Owner of Toutiao news feed and Douyin/TikTok short-video, the dominant forces reshaping Chinese content distribution and ad spending. Represents the principal competitive and structural threat to Sohu's portal-based content model.
• Bilibili: Chinese video community platform blending user-generated content, gaming, and anime verticals. Increasingly competes with Sohu's video and gaming-media (17173) audience for young Chinese consumers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sohu_news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sohu.com