Alibaba’s UCWeb to invest Rs 2 bn in India, Indonesia

Beijing, Jan 19 (IANS) UCWeb, part of Alibaba Mobile Business Group, on Thursday announced plans to invest Rs 2 billion over the next two years in the Indian and Indonesian market with a focus on enhancing content.

The funds will primarily be used to tap the huge potential of user-generated content in India via its news distribution and content platform, UC News, the company said in a statement.

"As India enters the age of increased content consumption through mobile devices, there is a huge potential for the growth of user-generated content in India similar to what has happened in China," said Jack Huang, President of Overseas Business, Alibaba Mobile Business Group, in a statement.

Available in Hindi, Indonesian and English, UC News integrates trending content from social media and partners with traditional media, self-publishers and key opinion leaders for original content.

UC News recently announced a detailed monetary compensation plan in a bid to offer unique content on UC News and further consolidate its position as a content distribution platform.

UC News will also help contributors gain traffic, revenue and followers with the help of Big Data technology and smart content distribution system.

"We estimate that more and more digital content consumers will turn themselves into "prosumers" -- consumers who also contribute to the content production which will also contribute to the increase of digital content creators in India," added Kenny Ye, General Manager, Overseas Business, Alibaba Mobile Business Group.

The total page views on UC News rose over 290 per cent with content in Hindi seeing maximum traction in the fourth quarter last year.

The Indian users read in Hindi almost five times more than English on the mobile in 2016.