There are rumors that Baidu is to acquire Tudou.com. According to a Securities Times reporter‘s source who’s close to Baidu senior management, Baidu has approached Tudou.com with two acquisition proposals.
One option is direct acquisition of Tudou.com by Baidu and Tudou will remain independent operation and focus on UGC and original production. The other option is that Baidu increases its investment in Qiyi and Qiyi acquires and integrates Tudou.com.
According to iResearch’s data, by effective browsing time in the second quarter this year, YouKu, Tudou and Qiyi have market share of 39.3%, 20% and 17.2% respectively.
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[...] million video clips and tons of ads, Tudou’s not in bad shape. Rumors were first spreading about Baidu acquiring Tudou, especially with the company going public. With shares at USD 29, the site earned about USD 174 [...]