Yahoo! China Re-focusing On Search: Yisou Re-launched

Yahoo! China is shifting its major business focus to search instead of Internet portal, according to its president Zeng Ming. In 2007, Yahoo! China is to develop customized search capabilities.

One of the evidences to support this saying can be found with its recent re-launch of Yisou. Yisou is believed to be a research platform of search technologies for Yahoo! China, very much like Google Search Mash.

In late 2005, Yisou terminated its operation in late 2005 after Yahoo China’s acquisition by Alibaba. At that time Yisou’s Chinese name means “One-search”. After the re-launch, its new name will mean “Easy-to-search”. For those who are not familiar with Chinese (Mandarin) pinyin, yi can mean either easy or one in Chinese.