3721

Overview

3721 is the Chinese-keyword internet access product and company in No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27, founded by 周鸿祎 after he left Founder. The episode treats it as both a genuine local access innovation and a source of lasting browser-plugin trust damage.

Current Profile

The page’s current synthesis is that 3721 sits at the start of Chinese Internet Entry-Point Competition / 中文互联网入口竞争: it recognized that English URLs were a friction point for ordinary Chinese users and turned Chinese keywords into an address, sales, and advertising product. Its downside is equally central: aggressive browser-plugin tactics, public conflicts, and adverse legal outcomes made it a byword for “rogue software” controversy and later gave 360’s anti-rogue turn a charged prehistory.

Key Characteristics

• Chinese-keyword access product designed to make web navigation easier for users who did not remember English URLs.
• Business-development-heavy company that sold and auctioned keywords to enterprises, anticipating some mechanics of search advertising.
• Missed-search case because Zhou kept positioning it as Chinese domain/address infrastructure and resisted a fuller search-engine direction.
• Controversial browser-plugin distributor associated in the episode with popups, difficult uninstall, and anti-uninstall competition against rivals.
• Acquisition target that was sold to Yahoo and became the bridge into Yahoo China.

Evidence

• Access thesis: No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27 says Zhou saw English URLs as too hard for ordinary Chinese users and created a product around Chinese internet keywords.
• Company formation: No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27 says Zhou, Hu Huan, and two junior partners built the company from a two-bedroom apartment, released the client in 1999, and received IDG investment.
• Monetization and missed search: No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27 connects 3721’s keyword sales and auctions to later search ads, while noting that Zhou deleted search functionality and Yu Jun left toward search work.
• Conflict and reputation: No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27 records conflicts with Real Names, CNNIC, and Baidu, plus unfavorable 2003 court outcomes.
• Acquisition bridge: No.216 ⚔️ 「十步杀一人」：红衣大炮周鸿祎的三十年全面战争史 | 中国互联网故事 27 says Yahoo acquired 3721 for about $120 million and made Zhou president of Yahoo China in March 2004.

Qualifications

The episode gives 3721 through Zhou’s biography and later controversy memory. It does not supply a full technical audit of the plugin, a complete legal record, or every competitor’s account of the disputes.

What Changed

• Added 3721 as the originating product/company case for Chinese-keyword access, browser-plugin controversy, and Zhou’s later Yahoo China and 360 arcs.

Relationships

• 周鸿祎 / Zhou Hongyi - founder relationship and main strategic actor.
• Yahoo China / 雅虎中国 - acquisition and operating bridge after Yahoo bought the business.
• Yahoo - acquirer relationship.
• Baidu - search competitor and legal counterparty in the source.
• Chinese Internet Entry-Point Competition / 中文互联网入口竞争 - core concept that 3721 exemplifies.
• Chinese Internet Platform Wars / 中文互联网平台战争 - conflict style visible in its CNNIC, Real Names, and Baidu fights.
• Free Security Software Strategy / 免费安全软件策略 - later reversal pattern because 360 attacked the kind of unwanted plugin behavior 3721 was accused of spreading.