BEIJING, November 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), the No. 3 Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it strongly disagrees with a recent story that appeared on the Citron Research homepage.
The Company believes the article contains numerous errors of fact and is riddled with unsupported speculations. The Company would like to highlight certain key errors in fact contained in the story.
User Base vs. Web Traffic
Qihoo 360 has amassed over 370 million active users primarily through internet security products. The products are mainly desktop applications. Regular users are not required to visit 360.cn when they use Qihoo's security solutions. Therefore it is not sensible to use 360.cn web traffic to estimate Qihoo 360's total user base.
Alexa Data
Alexa tracks internet traffic through browser based tool-bar plug-ins. The majority of 360.cn's users access the website through Qihoo 360's Safe Browser and have 360 security products. One of the key features of a security product is to erase unnecessary plug-ins that may impact a user's on-line experience. Few of our users have Alexa plug-ins on their computers. Alexa has therefore underestimated 360.cn's traffic.
DoubleClick Data
Qihoo 360's partnership with Google is primarily on search referral which directs search traffic to Google by incorporating a search bar within Qihoo 360's Safe Browser. 360.cn does not have Doubleclick-powered banner ads and Google's AdSense links. Doubleclick Adplanner is designed for tracking banner ads and Google's AdSense and cannot accurately measure 360.cn's web traffic.
Mobile Security
Qihoo 360 launched its mobile security solution, "360 Mobile Safe", in 2009, and today has over 20 million active smartphone users. This is one of the largest mobile security active user bases in China according to multiple 3rd party statistics cited in our SEC filings. In August and September 2011, Qihoo 360 launched its mobile browser for iPad and Android-based devices and a mobile app store for Android applications, further expanding the Company's reach within the Chinese mobile internet market.
The facts listed above represent a few of the misleading statements contained within the story. The author of the story made no effort to reach out and communicate directly with the Company's senior management. The Company believes the author of the story lacks a basic understanding of the Chinese Internet industry in general and Qihoo 360 in particular.
Qihoo 360 is committed to open and transparent communication with shareholders.
Source:21cbh.com