Reinventing the Millennium

On the evening of June 23, Baidu announced the launch of the "Baidu Q\u0026A" community. The traffic is interconnected with "Baidu Zhihu", which is a clear-cut target of Zhihu, which is currently booming in China.

Baidu launched a question-and-answer product like "Baidu Knows" in 2005. The purpose was to combine and make up for the deficiencies in engine functions, and it also accumulated many users.

However, Zhihu took advantage of its rapid response after several incidents, strong community atmosphere, and the presence of more professionals to catch up and become a unique SNS Q\u0026A community in China.

With the development of Zhihu, this feature has gradually made some people accustomed to searching here.

Now, Baidu has built a competing website with a very clear name, "Baidu Q\u0026A".

Fang Zhuo briefly browsed this new website, and his first reaction was that although it claimed to be interoperable with "Baidu Knows" traffic, it did have quite a few overlapping functions. If it continues to develop in the future, it might need to be integrated.

In the early stage, competition will focus on Zhihu, and in the later stage, by becoming bigger and stronger, the scale can be unified.

That night, the issue of the war between Baidu and Yike was still on the hot list on Zhihu, and news about competing websites came again.

This time, not only Xiong Xiaoge, but also many Zhihu users complained.

No, if you two are at war, why would Baidu direct its fire towards Zhihu?

Why don’t you create a Baidu Weibo?

Why don’t you make a Baidu mobile phone?

Such questions were answered at the barbecue party at Fangzhuo Villa the next day.

Xiong Xiaoge, the co-founder of Zhihu, flew to Shanghai and met Fangzhuo’s old team at a gathering. He also grilled barbecue along the way and chatted about the current competition.

He complained to Baidu’s face about this raid and suspension of cooperation, once again expressing his innocence.

"Mr. Fang, Baidu should go to Yike, why are you looking for Zhihu?"

Fang Zhuo laughed without any scruples: "Little Bear, don't you understand? Persimmons should be picked softly."

Xiong Xiaoge: "..."

Su Wei, Zhou Xin, Yu Hong and others all laughed together. Xiong was always an old friend...but why, it was particularly happy when an old friend was defeated.

"No, no, Zhihu really has a lot of traffic converted from Baidu. If it stops, Yike will have to invest money in us." Xiong Xiaoge is different from this group of people's mentality of just watching the excitement. He is very serious. .

Fang Zhuo asked back: "Why should Yike invest? Do you know of any business models that can be connected?"

One of the reasons for Zhihu's rapid development is also the good reputation among users. The page here is simple, the atmosphere is strong, there are no advertisements, and you can see famous celebrities from various companies. It is a paradise.

However, the promised land is a promised land, and investing money is another matter.

Xiong Xiaoge was startled: "Yike is a shareholder of Zhihu. This model, as long as we add advertising, we will get through it."

"Then if you are so optimistic about Zhihu, you can invest in IDG yourself. Why are you looking for me?" Fang Zhuo said ruthlessly, "You are one of the most famous investors in China."

Xiong Xiaoge: "..."

It doesn’t seem to work. This Zhihu business model...if it is blocked by Baidu, Zhihu’s subsequent promotion and publicity and many costs will rise sharply. IDG’s investment...

No, no, IDG is not as wealthy as Mr. Fang.

He felt stunned and ridiculous: "Hey, Mr. Fang, hey, Mr. Su, you guys are trying to make a comment. Is this justified by nature? I'm stupid, I know this is an unreasonable disaster! It's completely affected! Do you know? I beat you When I called him, they directly said that I am from Fang Zhuo, and the malice was not directed at me, Xiong Xiaoge, but at Fang Zhuo!"

The courtyard was once again filled with a cheerful atmosphere, and the aroma of barbecue became stronger.

Su Wei was laughing so hard that she was out of breath. She held Yu Hong's arm and tried to be serious but really couldn't take it seriously: "Mr. Xiong, one person is responsible for each person's work. You don't know how to offend Mr. Li. Don't blame Mr. Fang." rely."

Yu Hong asked seriously: "Yes, Mr. Xiong, you are the one who said that. Do you have a recording of the phone call?"

"I made a phone call and recorded it? My surname is not Fang!" Xiong Xiaoge swore that these were the most frustrating two days in his decades of work.

Yu Hong shrugged: "Then there's nothing we can do. There's no evidence or anything. It's hard for us to persuade him."

After she said this, she and Su Wei also laughed together.

Fang Zhuo took out a bunch of chicken wings and handed them to Xiong Xiaoge: "Mr. Xiong, you are not here in vain. The former world's richest man grilled the chicken wings himself."

Xiong Xiaoge refused: “I don’t want chicken wings, I want money!”

"Talking about money hurts feelings. When I was short of money, I didn't go to you and force you to invest money. Investments are done voluntarily and cannot be forced." Fang Zhuo was very serious.

Xiong Xiaoge has to doubt what happened in the past years. Did he vote for it willingly in the first place?

He was deep in thought.

Zhou Xin handed his daughter Zhou Keke a string of squid and said with a smile: "Mr. Xiong, you are always investing. If you start your own business, you can understand how we feel. This will definitely promote your investment career in the future." "

"You just want to see my jokes, right?" Xiong Xiaoge was helpless.

He really liked Zhihu's model so he took the time to develop it, and now naturally he doesn't want to see it disappear under Baidu's offensive.

"I think it's okay. Let's see what Baidu does next. Let's switch to Sogou. It directly cuts off the search results on the content side. It seems to be a powerful tool in the short term, but this is a big problem for a search engine. It's a kind of self-harm." Fang Zhuo ate the chicken wings carefully and continued, "I said when I was in Lin'an that the era of mobile Internet is coming. At this juncture, Baidu, the PC overlord, is struggling more and more. not good."

Baidu is not only targeting Zhihu this time, but also Sina Portal, Sina Weibo and Tesco.

Among them, Sina is one of the most famous portals in China, Weibo is the most popular social platform nowadays, and Tesco is also a well-known e-commerce website. These three brands have already made a name for themselves.

Fang Zhuo believes that Baidu’s offensive strategy is questionable.

However, it is not uncommon for major companies to block each other. Today, Taobao and Baidu are also blocking each other. A year or two ago, the two companies had a war of words accusing each other. Part of the reason is that Taobao wants to control its own Buyers and sellers are also directly competing with Baidu in C2C.

However, Baidu’s C2C business is not even as famous as Penguin’s Paipai.com.

Many people have no idea that Baidu launched a C2C e-commerce platform called "Youa" in 2008.

At the beginning of its launch, "Yes" shouted a loud slogan of "surpassing Taobao in three years", which caused Alibaba's stock price to plummet, and then... nothing happened.

Following the failure of Penguin e-commerce, Baidu has also quietly failed to gain any C2C market share.

These two companies have huge traffic, but they have not made any achievements in the field of e-commerce. This is indeed quite puzzling for industry insiders, and it also makes people more and more respect the two leading brands "Taobao" and "Yigou" today. .

"Little Bear, I think Baidu should just block it if it blocks it. Now it will remain unchanged in response to changes. It may hope to have a vigorous competition that will reverberate across the Internet, but we can't do what it wants." Zhuo took the juice and pondered for a moment, "It's okay if Taobao is blocked. I don't think Sina and Tesco will have any serious consequences."

Xiong Xiaoge reminded: "There is also Zhihu."

"Oh, yes, and Zhihu, continue to create features and continue to develop. Baidu is a PC. This year, Yike has joined forces with a number of brand manufacturers to vigorously promote Android smartphones. This is a mobile terminal. Let's work together to build up our internal strength. Let's see who has the last laugh." Fang Zhuo said calmly, "At such a juncture, competition will emerge from nowhere, so let's stop."

Is this a competition from Baidu?

Yes, but it is also part of the octopus-like expansion of large manufacturers.

Fang Zhuo believes that if you look at it from the latter perspective, there is no need to be nervous.

Such as Baidu, Penguin, and even Yike, it is normal for companies to expand and compete naturally after they grow in size.

Previously in Lin'an, many media said that the "Yike Department" was going to try the BAT sword. This year, there will be conflicts of all sizes. Although this one from Baidu is a bit beyond Fang Zhuo's expectation, he has already sorted it out. main contradiction.

As long as Android hardware sells well, it will become easier to switch offensive and defensive positions over time.

The same applies to competition with penguins.

Yixin, which will be launched within this year, is based on the large number of Android users.

"Mr. Fang, if you use silence, I'm afraid that Zhihu will accidentally be silenced to death." Standing in his own position, Xiong Xiaoge really had to think more about Zhihu.

Judging from the product Zhihu, this is the giant’s traffic attack!

Xiong Xiaoge suddenly understood the reputation of the two giants in the industry, and this time he really felt the same way.

"Death means that your website is not good enough. Natural selection means survival of the fittest." Fang Zhuo handed the little bear another skewer of barbecue.

Xiong Xiaoge took it this time, took a bite, and asked, "You are not refusing to save me at the moment of death, but you are refusing to save me now and wait and see, right?"

Fang Zhuoran hesitated and did not answer.

Xiong Xiaoge was eating barbecue and felt really unsure when seeing Mr. Fang's attitude.

He observed the atmosphere of the party in the courtyard, considered the situation of Zhihu under the entire Yike strategy, and tried again: "Zhihu can also be a part of the YMS ecosystem, Mr. Fang, I think it is necessary to save it." Yes, even if you don’t save me, don’t send such a signal that you don’t want to save me.”

Fang Zhuo heard something and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Xiong Xiaoge didn’t answer this time. It’s not convenient for IDG to vote, and Yike is not willing to vote... then...

When I came to Shanghai, I wanted to visit Wang Fengyi, a well-known Chinese investor, so that I could exchange investment experiences.

As I get older, I encounter more problems. Since I started a business from investors, I can only apply some of the painting experience I learned from Mr. Fang.

Xiong Xiaoge made up her mind and left in a hurry without even finishing the barbecue.

"What are you doing, Mr. Xiong?" Su Wei leaned over and asked.

Fang Zhuo was a little confused and pondered for a moment: "It's just asking for money, um... that can't be the case. I heard that Qingzi has been active in Shanghai recently. Could it be that you are looking for him?"

He took a casual guess and found that Qingzi still had some money, and Xiaoxiong also had a lot of dealings with him.

Su Wei smiled and said: "No way, your place is already in chaos."

However, soon, she stopped laughing.

The barbecue is not over yet, Tesco will give a latest report.

Taobao is definitely considering setting up a promotion festival in the second half of the year.

This month's 618 event is in good shape. Taobao is undoubtedly the number one e-commerce company in China. Now, while Baidu and Yike are igniting the smoke, they suddenly release tit-for-tat activities in the second half of the year. The signal is much more serious than what Zhihu is facing.

Su Wei frowned after receiving the call. Then after putting down the phone, she found Fang Zhuo and made a suggestion: "Since it's not easy for IDG to vote on Zhihu, why not do this? In exchange, let Yike vote on Zhihu, and let Yike vote on Zhihu." IDG is coming to pursue investment in Tesco.”

"Do you really think Little Bear is stupid?" Fang Zhuo glanced at Teacher Xiao Su.

"Now I feel how it feels to bring disaster to Chi Yu." Su Wei said seriously.

Fang Zhuo shrugged and gave the same reply: "Stop calmly, there is no rush."

Su Wei: "..."

She looked back at Yu Hong, who was also smiling, and sincerely made a wish to the moon in the night sky: "Is there any more? Is there any news? I want to see Yike being competed, and I want to see how this man reacts."

Yu Hong held back her laughter: "That won't work. You have to use an ice core to see the reaction you want."

Old God Fang Zhuo was there and ignored the teasing of these two people.

The time was getting late, and the veteran entrepreneurial team had rarely had such an opportunity to gather together in recent years. The chat content gradually changed from business matters to interesting things. Yu Hong talked about a lot of the cultural differences she had encountered in the United States in the past few years. Su Wei shared the things that are usually kept private within the company. People say weird things, and Zhou Xin talked about his sea fishing experience and successfully kicked himself out of the chat group. He could only let his wife Yu Lanyu accompany the two of them to chat.

Zhou Xin's daughter Zhou Keke was still young, and she was impatient and did not understand the interest of this group of adults in their night chats. She cried endlessly due to sleepiness and even Zhou Xin and Yu Lanyu could not be coaxed for a while.

Fang Zhuo, on the other hand, put the little girl on his shoulders and hummed for a while to lull her to sleep.

"Emperor of Heaven, Emperor of Earth, there is a night-crying man in my family. A gentleman passing by will read this once and he will sleep until dawn."

Fang Zhuo did not participate in the chat, indicating that he would hold Zhou Keke who fell asleep first, and then put her back in the guest room when she was more asleep.

The moon was hidden in the clouds, and the chatter in the courtyard was lowered. Fang Zhuo listened to the chatter of several people with great interest. He occasionally shook the little girl in his arms, as if he had not been attacked by BA.

When Yu Lanyu picked up Zhou Keke, secretary Liu Zonghong quietly came over to deliver a new message.

"President Fang, Schmidt from Google is coming to China. He made an appointment to visit Yike on Wednesday. He said that Google may want to withdraw from China."

Fang Zhuo concentrated slightly, Baidu's search market was even more dominated by one company.

He nodded: "No problem, I haven't seen Schmidt for a long time and I miss him too."

Liu Zonghong reported another little news: "General Manager Lei Junlei came back from the United States for inspection and wants to come to the company again. I haven't made an appointment yet. He wants to discuss the prospects of the group purchase project Mi Tuan in China."

Fang Zhuo smiled and said: "He is coming to draw a cake for me. He has an appointment until Sunday. Well, Lei Jun, Meituan."

Liu Zonghong had no other news, but he was a little surprised to hear the title of Mr. Fang, Meituan? Rice balls?

He thought that he must have said it right just now, he also has an accent.