Tencent launches independent website Yuanbao Search so.qq.com, default AI mode benchmarks Baidu and Google
Tencent has launched an independent search website “Yuanbao Search” (http://so.qq.com）。该网站默认开启AI搜索模式：用户输入问题后，可获得完整答案并同时显示参考来源，支持继续追问；按回车可切换至传统关键词网页搜索。目前页面未见搜索广告。PC版支持单独检索微信公众号与视频号内容，并提供学术、机构、主流媒体、图片视频等垂直入口。 [blocked]
The service had previously been opened to developers via Tencent Cloud. On October 21, 2026, TechNode reported that Tencent announced on October 20 that it would open Yuanbao Search as a commercial service to external developers and enterprises, for information retrieval for large language models and AI agents. The company said its index scale reaches tens of billions of entries, with hundreds of millions of daily calls, and that it has already supported more than 50 internal businesses including WorkBuddy, ima, and Tencent Video. It is also connected to 157 information sources across 13 fields, supporting minute-level updates for news, weather, and market prices. The underlying system combines public web pages and Tencent’s content ecosystem.
In historical context, Tencent launched the standalone search brand Soso in 2006. In September 2013, Tencent acquired a 36.5% stake in Sogou for US$448 million in cash and folded Soso’s search business into Sogou. On September 23, 2021, Tencent completed its full acquisition of Sogou, making it a privately held company indirectly wholly controlled by Tencent.
Original sources:
Title: Tencent opens Yuanbao Search to developers building AI models and agents Publisher: TechNode Publication date: 2026-10-21 URL: https://technode.com/2026/10/21/tencent-opens-yuanbao-search-to-developers-building-ai-models-and-agents/ Source type: media report Verification status: full text actually read for this item (as of 2026-11-11) Supporting content: supports that Tencent opened Yuanbao Search to external users via Tencent Cloud on October 20, 2026; its index covers tens of billions of entries; daily calls are in the hundreds of millions; it supports more than 50 internal businesses (including WorkBuddy, ima, and Tencent Video); it combines public web pages with Tencent’s ecosystem; and it is connected to 157 sources. It does not prove that the independent consumer website so.qq.com has gone live, nor does it prove Sogou traffic redirects or QQ Browser default settings.
ABAB AI Insight
Tencent’s independent attempt in search can be traced back to Soso, officially launched in 2006. In its early stage, the product relied on Google technology, later developed in-house, and Tencent once brought in technical executives from Google China, but it never managed to shake Baidu’s dominance in the general search market. In September 2013, Tencent acquired a 36.5% stake in Sogou for US$448 million and folded Soso into Sogou; after that, Tencent held about 36.5% of Sogou. In September 2021, Tencent completed the full acquisition of Sogou for about US$3.5 billion, taking it private and gradually integrating it into WeChat and platform content businesses. The launch of Yuanbao Search this time is another move into consumer search in the form of an independent domain after Tencent already held Sogou’s technical assets and traffic entry points.
In terms of business path, Yuanbao Search was not built from scratch. From mid-2024, Tencent formed a search team around the Yuanbao app and integrated WeChat Search and Sogou technology. In 2025, it opened capabilities to enterprises and developers, and in October 2026 it officially provided API, MCP, and Skill access through Tencent Cloud, while disclosing an index of tens of billions and hundreds of millions of daily calls. The so.qq.com site launched in November extends the same infrastructure to consumers, with default AI answers and sources displayed side by side, while still retaining traditional search and dedicated entry points for Official Accounts and Channels. The funding and technology input mainly came from existing search assets and WeChat ecosystem content, rather than a new round of large-scale external financing.
Compared with Soso from 2006-2013, the key similarity is the attempt to challenge Baidu’s general search position through a proprietary entry point; the key difference is that the current product can directly draw on closed-ecosystem content such as Official Accounts and Channels, which is not fully covered on Baidu’s side. In the past, Soso lacked differentiated content entry points strong enough to form user habits and ultimately ended up being folded into Sogou; this time, AI answer generation is tied to Tencent’s content resources, and the system has already handled its scale of calls across more than 50 internal businesses.
Therefore, what this launch mainly changes is the product form and entry control of Tencent’s search assets: from being embedded in WeChat and internal services to an independently accessible consumer search site, while explicitly using Official Account and Channels content as differentiated sources. Observable indicators include whether existing entry points such as Sogou continue to lead to Yuanbao result pages, the actual adoption rate of QQ Browser’s default search setting, and the user dwell time and follow-up query ratio for answers and sources in AI mode. Before there is independent market share data, whether it can materially divert traffic from Baidu still depends on whether entry migration and content coverage continue to expand.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Control over the search entry point often determines traffic direction more than the model itself.
Closed-ecosystem content can become a differentiated source for general search, but it must truly become part of users’ habits.
When the same technical asset shifts from an internal tool to an independent consumer product, user entry habits still need to be rebuilt.