Chapter 1412 The True Future of the Internet

As for video websites, Zhao Fusheng's impression was that they emerged around 2006. Just when everyone thought blogs would become mainstream, video websites suddenly rose.

At the beginning of 2006, Hu Ge's short video 'A Bloody Case Caused by a Steamed Bun' quickly spread across the entire internet, sparking a wave of video spoofs and spreading the concept of video sharing to every corner of the internet.

Subsequently, the FIFA World Cup in Germany allowed internet broadcasting of World Cup video content for the first time, revealing business opportunities in the online video industry, accelerating the development of video internet, and drawing widespread attention from the industry. The World Cup became a catalyst for the video industry to promote content services and explore new revenue growth points, with many emerging media reaping the benefits of online video.

Then YouTube, a website across the ocean dedicated to video uploading and sharing, became the new idol of China's internet industry. The global popularity YouTube had gathered, along with Google's acquisition of YouTube for $1.7 billion in October of that year, further solidified entrepreneurs' enthusiasm for video websites.

Video websites became the new gold rush.

Almost overnight, a flood of video websites emerged. Tudou, Podcast China, Podcast World, China Podcast Network, 6.cn, and nearly two hundred other domestic websites eagerly imitated and replicated the YouTube model, joyfully envisioning the future.

Portal sites and search engines also set their sights on this market.

Sina, Sohu, TOM, QQ, Baidu, and others successively launched their own video services.

However, most video websites at that time had not found a clear profit model, their content was mixed, they faced copyright and regulatory concerns, and the surge in numbers directly intensified competition among video websites.

Some predicted that only a few video websites would ultimately survive.

Time proved this prediction correct.

Zhao Fusheng naturally knew this.

In fact, he was well aware that when everyone thought blogs had been replaced by video websites and that video websites would dominate half of the internet, microblogs emerged.

And those video websites, under the impact of smartphones and fierce competition within the industry, ended up with very few truly surviving.

'China's internet is like panning gold in the sand; in the end, only true gold and diamonds shine.' Zhao Fusheng remembered this sentence vividly.

Although he couldn't recall where he had seen it, he had to admit it was true.

Of course, no one knew this now. Everyone thought the rise of blogs meant the arrival of a golden age, including major portal sites, which began frantically hyping the blog concept.

Investment companies, too, went crazy, starting to seek out blog websites for investment.

That was why Zhao Fusheng had been able to buy a blog site for 10 million RMB and later sell it for 10 million USD, with someone still willing to pay.

'Are these people all crazy now?'

Sitting in Zhao Fusheng's office, Zheng Yao said helplessly, 'Outside, everyone is frantically hyping the blog concept. All the ad agency is getting are proposals on this.'

She paused, then asked Zhao Fusheng, 'What do you think, should we...'

Clearly, Zheng Yao felt that Zhao Fusheng's earlier sale of the blog site had been too hasty.

Looking at Zheng Yao helplessly, Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: 'Don't overthink it. Blogs—we used them as a platform before. Now that someone wants to buy, sell it to them. We won't get involved ourselves, understand?'

Zheng Yao was taken aback, her brows furrowed. Clearly, she couldn't understand Zhao Fusheng's words.

After all, in the current situation, every company was eager to jump into blog projects, yet Future Group was pulling out—wasn't that going against the grain?

Seeing that Zheng Yao still wanted to speak, Zhao Fusheng didn't bother explaining further and said seriously, 'Think about it—how many projects are we invested in now? With so many, can we handle them all?'

Zheng Yao blinked but had to fall silent.

Though she was reluctant to admit it, the facts were clear: as Zhao Fusheng said, Future Group's biggest problem was that it was involved in too many industries.

A company spanning multiple industries might seem vast and well-developed, but the problem was equally hard to hide—it was broad but not specialized.

Take Future Group as an example. Apart from the four major subsidiaries, the other industries were small-scale and couldn't achieve economies of scale.

In other words, besides Future Film, Future Advertising, Future Investment, and Future Technology, the other subsidiaries were either in their infancy or still relying on the parent company's blood transfusions to survive.

Both Zhao Fusheng and Zheng Yao had realized that continuing this way would be detrimental to the entire company.

That was why they had established the Supervision Department and were considering reforming the company.

After all, Future Group appeared to be developing smoothly in the eyes of outsiders. Under such circumstances, the company's establishment of a department like the Supervision Department and the initiation of reforms could only mean that top management was dissatisfied with the company's current state.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng was indeed dissatisfied.

Of course, this dissatisfaction was not with Zheng Yao, Dong Chenxi, or other top executives, but with the current development status of Future Group.

After all, in Zhao Fusheng's view, with his trump card of being reborn with foreknowledge, Future Group should not be in its current state.

This was probably the pride of a reborn person.

Regardless, the bottom line was that Zhao Fusheng was quite dissatisfied with Future Group's development.

Zheng Yao naturally knew this, so she could truly understand what Zhao Fusheng was saying now.

After thinking it over, Zheng Yao ultimately chose to yield.

Regardless, Zhao Fusheng had always respected her, and in turn, she should respect his authority as the boss. Such things were always mutual.

'Alright, I'll listen to you.' Zheng Yao glanced at Zhao Fusheng and nodded. 'I'll arrange it later. The company won't get too deeply involved with blog business.'

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: 'That's not necessary. What I mean is, we shouldn't continue investing in blog-related business, because I think its future development is problematic.'

Zheng Yao's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at Zhao Fusheng.

She had never expected Zhao Fusheng to view the booming blogs this way.

'You... you're not joking, are you?'

Zheng Yao looked at Zhao Fusheng and said softly.

At that moment, the surprise on her face was almost palpable.

In fact, if it weren't Zhao Fusheng saying this, Zheng Yao's first reaction might have been to retort, asking if he was crazy—couldn't he see how hot blogs were in China right now?

But precisely because it was Zhao Fusheng saying this, Zheng Yao became even more curious, as she knew well that Zhao Fusheng was not one to speak without basis.

Sure enough, Zhao Fusheng shrugged and explained, 'If you have time, you can look into video sharing websites. Though I'm reluctant to admit it, I have to say, this thing will definitely bring us big surprises in the future.'

This was true. Although video websites were money burners, once successful, the profits were extremely丰厚.

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng remembered that whether it was iQiyi or Youku Tudou, in the end, investors all made a killing.

Of course, retail investors definitely lost money.

After all, retail investors are leeks. As leeks, they must have the awareness to support the market for the country.

'You mean those foreign sites that share short videos?' Zheng Yao tilted her head, thought for a moment, and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Clearly, she had heard of this, or knew such websites existed.

After all, being in the internet industry, she had some understanding of advanced things in this field.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: 'Trust me, the future development of such video websites will exceed your and my imagination.'

Zheng Yao was skeptical, clearly not fully convinced by Zhao Fusheng's judgment.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and said nothing more. Facts speak louder than words; many truths in this world are not determined by talk.

But by facts.