You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (January 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:知乎]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|zh|知乎}} to the talk page.
Zhihu (Chinese: 知乎; pinyin: Zhīhū) is a Quora-type question and answer site and news aggregator.[4][5] Originally based in Chengdu and with creators from Sichuan, China, the website launched on January 26, 2011. The number of registered users on Zhihu exceeded 10 million by the end of 2013,[6] and reached 17 million as of May 2015,[7] with 250 million monthly page views.[2] By the end of 2018, the number of registered users of Zhihu exceeded 220 million and the website accumulated more than 30 million questions and 130 million answers.
History
Zhihu IPO day on NYSE
Zhihu began development in August 2010. It went through a closed beta test at the end of December 2010.[7] The final product went online on January 26, 2011.[8][9] It has reportedly received funding from Kai-Fu Lee's Innovation Works, Qiming Ventures,[10] SAIF Partners, Tencent, and Sogou.[11]
In October 2011, Zhihu completed its A-round of funding for 7 million USD from Innovation Works and Qiming Ventures.[8]
In 2015, Zhihu completed its C-round of funding for 55 million USD.[11]
In 2017, Zhihu officially commercialized. In August 2018, Zhihu completed its E-round of funding, raising 270 million USD for a total company valuation at 2.5 billion USD. On August 12, 2019, Zhihu completed a subsequent F-round of funding led by Chinese short video platform Kuaishou and technology company Baidu, garnering 450 million USD. As a result, Baidu mobile app searches would directly return Zhihu content.[12]
In December 2021, ten of Zhihu's shareholders, including Sogou and Tencent's investment arm, sold all of their stakes (78% ownership) in Beijing Zhizhe Tianxia Technology, the parent company of Zhihu. All shares were transferred to the founder and CEO, Zhou Yuan (Chinese: 周源; pinyin: Zhōu Yuán), who owned more than 99% of the company thereafter. This occurred three days after regulatory pressures from the Beijing branch of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), during which Zhihu was instructed to rectify practices that had led to unlawful release of information.[13][14]
Zhihu functions similarly to Quora, where users may submit questions and answers, as well as upvote the best answer.[4] Zhihu also features expert panels and daily and weekly newsletters.[8]
Initially, user registration was primarily invitation-only, with referrals needed from a couple hundred registered users. Otherwise, new users had to apply to join by filling in a large amount of personal information and waiting for a reply.[17] Zhihu sought to host professional questions and answers, and then over time attract a more general community.[18]
Zhihu started open registration in March 2013. Registered users are able to ask questions and invite specific users to answer. Each user is able to check their Zhihu followers' updates (Likes, Answers, Following questions). On the home page, users are able to check the status of their own questions, as well as the activities around their answers and comments.
Revenue
The company generates revenue through marketing services, paid membership, and vocational training.[19]
^周源 (March 14, 2011). "知乎有哪些员工？" [Who are the employees at Zhihu?]. Zhihu (in Chinese). Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^Zhu, Xudong (July 13, 2013). "知乎月活跃用户突破1000万 进入快速增长轨道" [Zhihu has over 10 million monthly active users]. 腾讯科技 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^ ab财视传媒 (May 6, 2015). "知乎创始人周源：我也曾是正宗程序猿" [Zhou Yuan, founder of Zhihu: I was once an authentic programmer too]. Sohu (in Chinese (China)). Sohu.com Inc. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
^乐天 (March 28, 2011). skylei (ed.). 李开复爆料创新工场已投资问答社区网站知乎. 腾讯科技 (in Chinese). Tencent. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^"IN KEY INDUSTRIES". Qiming Venture Partners (in Chinese). Qiming. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^ ab余一 (November 5, 2015). chunwzhang (ed.). "知乎确认已完成5500万美金融资 腾讯领投" [Zhihu confirms it has closed $55 million in funding led by Tencent]. 腾讯科技. Tencent. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
^"内容社区：始于内容，火于流量，困于商业化" [Content Communities: Starting with Content, Fueled by Traffic, Struggling with Commercialization]. 36Kr (in Chinese). January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
