Local technology media sources are reporting that Sina.com (NASDAQ: SINA) may be eyeing a takeover of search partner Zhongsou.com's specialized search activities. Sina's proprietary search directories and engine have been a weak spot for the company, and Sina has bolstered itself by partnering with various companies over the years.
Sina started in 2000 with a partnership with Baidu.com, but that relationship ended after only a few months. Later in August 2002, Sina cooperated with Huicong and formally adopted the company's search engine. In April 2003, it entered another alliance with Zhongsou.
While strengthening activities with Zhongsou and Huicong, Sina has also been busy making adjustments to its services structure. It transferred its search engine service division to a new Enterprise Service Department and created a dedicated core group of engineers to deal with search activities.
Zhongsou.com is one of the largest search engine technology providers in China. It was colaunched and established by Huicong and China Internet News Center in September 2003 and enjoys a good reputation in China for large webpage coverage, fast data upgrades, and fast Chinese searches.
