Tudou finally nets Sarft licence

Sarft first targeted the Shanghai-based company in March for hosting videos that contained pornographic, violent or politically sensitive material. The crackdown followed a series of new regulations issued in January mandating that video sites must be under majority state ownership - of which Tudou is not - and cannot air contraband material.

Following its brief shutdown, Tudou was placed on Sarft’s blacklist and was not awarded a video license during Sarft’s first round of issuance.

“It’s been a long way - of course we are very happy. It’s been such a long wait,” said a Tudou spokeswoman, adding that the company has proudly posted a link to the scanned licence at the bottom of Tudou’s homepage. “This is a milestone for us because we’re now on equal footing with our competitors. We were the last one of the major sites to get our licence; most of the others got theirs two months ago.

“It shows that we are truly reliable and now Tudou is something that is really solid. It sends a strong message to our partners that we are serious about growing our business,” she continued.

According to managing director China Market Research Group Shaun Rein, receiving a broadcast licence is imperative to any video site’s welfare because, without one, it would be impossible to attract advertising revenue, making survival in a sector that has not produced any profitable company even more challenging.

“Getting the licence from Sarft is key for Tudou to be able to sign deals with advertisers and solidifies their position along with Youkou as the online video site to beat,” he said. “It is difficult for marketers to launch ad advertising campaign with an online video site if it does not have the proper licensing because it runs the risk of getting shut down as was the case with 56.com.”

Tudou’s CEO Gary Wang reportedly said last month that the site has hosted nearly 70 million users since its launch in April 2005, as well as 25 million daily searches of its 13 million videos.