By the end of 2004, Sina's two key departments–the content development office in Beijing's Wanquanhe area, and the administrative office in Beijing's Soho development–will assemble at the Ideal International Building located on Beijing's 4th North Ring Road, where Baidu recently moved.
Similarly, last week, Sohu announced that it would withdraw from its base camp–Guanghua Chang'an Building–and move to Zhongguancun high-tech zone. Meanwhile, Tom's content department has moved to Yizhuang while its network and administrative departments still remain at Oriental Plaza. Although Netease has not expressed any intention of moving, its core service has been increasingly shifted to Guangzhou.
It is being suggested that the portals have realized that it is no longer cost-efficient to be crowded in at the expensive CBD while simultaneously trying to expand their business.