Alibaba has made itself the next contender in knocking off Bloomberg’s crown.
Bloomberg has dominated the investment industry with its financial and economic data, and many have grumbled about the company’s monopoly. Alibaba now poses a real threat, reports Quartz. The Asia firm has invested 1.2 billion yuan in China Business Network, and paired with CBN through the third party Gildata. In April 2014, Alibaba acquired financial software and services firm Hundsun Technologies for 3.3 billion yuan.
The country’s spending on financial data was up 16.7% in 2014 from the year prior, compared to a global increase of 4% during that same time.
Gildata has built on its terminal business to provide data for CBN’s TV channel and some Alibaba properties.
Alibaba has its own data for investors, as it tracks what Chinese consumers and businesses are buying and selling, as well as what apps people use and what website they visit.
China has been eager for a Bloomberg replacement. Its feisty news team doesn’t respect the same boundaries or rules that Alibaba does. Bloomberg is still in the doghouse after publishing an investigative report on now-president Xi Jinping’s family wealth in 2012. The company was censored by the Middle Kingdom and terminal sales dipped. Then in 2013 Bloomberg admitted that reporters could snoop on terminal users activities, furthering China’s dislike for the company.
Photo: Guilhem Vellut via Flickr.