Internet Portal Business Strategy In The Future

There are four aspects of the booming Internet industry in China from 1997 to 2001: 1) Internet users in China, doubling in number for the past three years, has increased to 20 million in 2000; 2) websites for creating online businesses became the hot topic; 3) because the government has been encouraging the development of IT businesses, risk investment organizations were authorized and supported to advance Internet business; 4) the media became the best stimulator of the new economy and e-commerce, spreading fables of the Internet hero.As the number of websites increase, portal sites were noticed for their integration of abundant contents and services, and have attracted numerous 慹yes?. Even so, most of the portal sites still did not find ways to become profitable.Since April 2000, the NASOAQ Index crashed from its highest point in the last 48 months, losing nearly half of its current market value. At the same time, the Internet industry was going into a period of mergers and recombination?so-called the winter of Internet business. Faced with these difficult conditions, Internet portal sites have to do something that could get rid of the problem. The solution included three main ideas: 1) try to re-tell another hero story, but from integrated portal sites to vertical portal sites, from B to C (Business to customer), B to B(Business to Business), P to P(Person to Person) to IDC(Internet Data Center) to Wide Band Network, the story has failed; 2) get management to install traditional industry business, and continue their life under the new concept of 揷ement + mouse?; 3) shut down the website. All these three main ideas cannot solve the problem; they just transfer the problem and delay the solution. It is necessary to reconsider the businessmodel of Internet portal sites, find the core cause of their profitless predicament, and design a profit-making strategy for the future.This article focuses on the study of Internet portal site future strategy. In order to achieve the study?s goal, the first step is to analyze China Internet business?outer environment, then probe into the internal structure of the portal site business model. The third step is to study Internet user groups?characteristics and to learn their demands. Accordingly, this article is organized into five parts.Part one discusses China Internet and online business development in the past three years.Part two is devoted to Internet portal site business model analyses.Part three presents characteristics of Chinese Internet users and their surfing behavior.Part four provides the future strategy of Internet portal site.Part five introduces the case 梸 揝ina.com?s predicament?...