What happened with ZH today?
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Zhihu brings together users and creators to share questions, answers, articles and videos. It has expanded beyond its origins as a Q&A service. Paid membership supplies most of its revenue: users pay for Yan Selection subscriptions to access a premium library of creator-produced and licensed content, with an on-demand access option also available.
Marketing services are its other major revenue source. Merchants and brands pay to advertise on Zhihu’s app and website or place commercial content within answers, articles and videos that Zhihu distributes to targeted audiences. Both businesses depend on creators supplying content that keeps users engaged: subscribers need content worth paying for, while advertisers need an audience that responds to their promotions. Zhihu must balance commercial content with the user experience.
Chinese rules require Zhihu to police illegal community content, and authorities can restrict content distribution or remove its app from app stores. Foreign-investment restrictions also shape its operations: Zhihu controls key Chinese operating entities through contracts rather than ownership and relies on those arrangements to receive their economic benefits.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Bilibili competes with Zhihu for users, creators and advertisers across China's creator-driven content communities, with Bilibili focused on video for younger generations. Its advertising revenue is the line to watch for competition over advertiser spending, rather than its mobile-game revenue.
iQIYI competes with Zhihu for Chinese consumers' spending on premium content libraries, and both also earn money from advertisers. Watch iQIYI's membership pricing and revenue from access to long-form videos and micro dramas: paid membership supplied 56.0% of Zhihu's 2025 revenue.
Weibo competes with Zhihu for brands' advertising and marketing budgets by selling access to large Chinese online communities. Watch Weibo's advertising and marketing business, where brands and agencies pay to build awareness and drive sales—the same spending Zhihu seeks with its feed and launch-screen ads.
Baidu competes with Zhihu for Chinese advertisers' budgets for targeted search and feed ads designed to deliver measurable results. Baidu's marketing customers bid to place sponsored links before people searching for related products and pay per click; that business is the relevant comparison for Zhihu's performance-priced ads.
36Kr competes with Zhihu for advertisers paying to reach Chinese content audiences through display ads and commercial material embedded in content. Its online advertising revenue is the closest comparison to Zhihu's marketing services, rather than its subscriptions, which mainly serve institutional users.
Alibaba Group's Alimama competes with Zhihu for brands' and merchants' spending on feed, display and performance ads aimed at driving purchases in China. Watch Alimama's marketing services for Taobao and Tmall merchants, which place ads on Alibaba's own platforms and third-party sites rather than relying only on a content community like Zhihu.
Bilibili Inc. earningsBILI
Bilibili's report will show whether brands are still buying ads in China's creator-driven content communities, competing with Zhihu for the same budgets.
Watch Bilibili's advertising revenue, not mobile-game revenue. Growth would show that brands are still paying to reach users in creator-driven communities, keeping Zhihu in the fight for similar budgets; a decline would point to softer demand for those placements and potentially less budget pressure on Zhihu.
iQIYI, Inc. earningsIQ
iQIYI's report will show whether consumers still pay for long-form video and micro-drama memberships, competing with Zhihu for paid-content spending.
Read iQIYI's membership revenue alongside membership pricing. Rising revenue with prices holding would show consumers still pay for premium libraries, keeping pressure on Zhihu's Yan Selection membership; weaker revenue or price cuts would suggest less willingness to pay and potentially less competitive pressure.
Weibo Corporation earningsWB
Weibo's report will show whether brands and agencies still fund ads across Chinese online communities, competing with Zhihu for marketing budgets.
Watch Weibo's advertising and marketing revenue. Growth would show brands still paying for community reach and sales, keeping competition for Zhihu's advertisers active; a decline would suggest tighter budgets and potentially less competition for Zhihu.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited earningsBABA
Alibaba's report will show whether merchants still pay for purchase-focused feed, display and performance ads, competing with Zhihu for marketing budgets.
Watch Alimama's marketing services for Taobao and Tmall merchants. Growth would show merchants still paying for purchase-focused ads, keeping competition for Zhihu's brand and merchant budgets in place; weaker revenue would suggest softer demand and potentially less budget pressure on Zhihu.
Zhihu Inc. earningsThis company
Zhihu's report will show whether paying members and advertisers are still paying for its content community.
Read paid-membership revenue alongside marketing-services revenue. Stabilizing membership revenue would show that readers still pay for premium content such as Yan Selection; a smaller decline in marketing services would show that brands still pay to reach Zhihu users. If both keep falling, neither paid content nor advertising has stabilized.
