Sina.com, a portal serving Chinese communities worldwide, is expanding its revenue base by offering paid e-mail services in China and North America, the company said yesterday.
The firm, which claims more than 22 million users and is the largest e-mail provider in China, said its new e-mail services will complement its existing free e-mail services. The new services, which are aimed at businesses and professionals who use Sina.com's free e-mail services, include larger mailboxes, faster connections and increased security.
Sina.com did not say how much it will charge for the new services.
“The paid e-mail service is part of our larger program of initiatives designed to upgrade our various customer segments toward more fees and subscription-based relationships,” said Wang Yan, Sina.com's president.
The company said that in the United States, Chinese-Americans make up 27 percent of the Asian population and more than 90 percent of them prefer to interact with the media in their native language.
The portal offers advertisers sponsorships, customer acquisition programs, interstitials and banner ads. Most programs can be customized for specific regions, demographic groups, categories, channels and keyword searches. Sina.com said it uses DoubleClick Inc.'s DART ad serving and online tracking technology.
