News may be censored and heavily edited inside China, but that hasn't stopped a Chinese mobile company from trying to grab a larger piece of the global news pie.
Chinese mobile Internet security company Cheetah Mobile formally announced that the company has acquired News Republic, a global mobile news service operator, for USD57 million.
Headquartered in Bordeaux and San Francisco, News Republic provides customized news content recommendations to its worldwide users by using methods like smart editing and data analysis and mining. At the same time, the company has established good copyright cooperation with over 1,650 news organizations around the world. Through News Republic's customized distribution system, readers can browse and read their personalized headlines, including articles, pictures, and videos. Meanwhile, they can also discuss a news topic they are interested in and form a news community.
Cheetah Mobile said that after the acquisition, News Republic will build a global public platform which will integrate individual developers of user generated content and Internet celebrities, aiming to help them improve exposure and use the advantages of their Internet celebrity content.
In addition, Cheetah Mobile will launch a social live app named Live.me in the U.S. According to this Chinese company, Live.me users can not only start live shows anytime anywhere, but they also can realize enhanced interaction with audiences by using dynamic stickers and filter functions.
Fu Sheng, chief executive officer of Cheetah Mobile, said that the acquisition of News Republic and the launch of Live.me are both in line with the content product strategy of Cheetah Mobile. The company has completed initial distribution in several major content sectors, including content social, news aggregation, and light gaming.
Cheetah Mobile's financial report for the first quarter of 2016 showed that the company had 651 million monthly active users on mobile devices and 79.5% of them were from overseas markets.
