Chinese search engine Sogou revenue up 4% in 2019

BEIJING - Chinese search engine company Sogou Inc on Monday reported its 2019 revenue reached $1.17 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to the company was $105 million last year, compared with $113 million in 2018.

The number of daily average users of the Sogou Mobile Keyboard increased by 9 percent year-on-year to 464 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The voice recognition app processed up to 802 million daily voice requests, the company said.

Wang Xiaochuan, CEO of Sogou, said the company's smart hardware business maintained healthy growth momentum as Sogou increasingly integrated its core AI capabilities into product upgrades.

"The recent COVID-19 outbreak has increased user requests for reliable information and high efficiency. As a result, our search traffic and mobile keyboard users reached record high levels," Wang noted.

The company expects its total revenue to be between $240 million to $260 million for the first quarter of 2020.