Zhihu Inc. (NYSE: ZH and HKEX: 2390) is the operator of Zhihu, a leading online content community where people come to find solutions, make decisions, seek inspiration, and have fun. Zhihu is one of the top five comprehensive online content communities and the largest Q&A-inspired online community in China, both in terms of average mobile MAUs and revenue in 2019, 2020, and 2021, according to CIC.
Since the initial launch in 2010, we have been dedicated to expanding our content and service offerings to meet the diverse needs of our users, content creators, and business partners. A content- centric business model has been formed during our development and continues to evolve. We have grown from a Q&A community into one of the largest comprehensive online content communities in China. On Zhihu, our users explore and enjoy content that broadens horizons, provides solutions, and resonates with minds, which we refer to as “fulfilling content” (有獲得感的內容). A full spectrum of our comprehensive content appeals to an ever-growing user base and content creators, who have come to Zhihu to share their knowledge, experience, and insights.
The Zhihu model is centered around a virtuous cycle that seeks to achieve a content equilibrium between what our content creators contribute and what our users consume. Our users and content creators actively interact with each other and share knowledge, experience, and insights, forming a content ecosystem spanning a wide range of verticals and topics across diverse content forms. Our deep content and user insights play an essential role in optimizing user experience and maintaining robust community governance, which reinforces our community culture of sincerity, expertise, and respect (認真、專業、友善). Our community culture and strong brand further strengthen our content ecosystem, which attracts and retains more users and content creators to our community. As we continue to enhance user experience and serve our users, content creators, and business partners, we have established diverse and expanding content-centric monetization channels, including online advertising, paid membership, content-commerce related services etc. This self-reinforcing cycle has been emerging with our growth and solidifying our leaderships.