Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and good evening. Thank you for joining Sohu's fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I'd like to turn the conference over to your host for today's conference call, Pu Huang, Investor Relations Director of Sohu. Please go ahead.
Thanks, operator. Thank you for joining us today to discuss fourth quarter 2021 results. On the call are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Charles Zhang, CFO Joanna Lv, and Vice President of Finance, James Deng. Also with us today are Changyou CEO, Dewen Chen, and CFO Yaobin Wang. Before management begins their prepared remarks, I would like to remind you of the company's safe harbor statement in connection with today's conference call. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed on this conference call may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
For more information about potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent annual report on Form 20-F. Please also be reminded that following the completion of the transaction with Tencent related to Sogou, Sohu no longer has any ownership interest in Sogou. As indicated otherwise, the results that we are talking about exclude results from Sogou operations. For historical statements, the results of operations for Sogou and the gain from the disposal have been classified as discontinued operations. With that, I will now turn the call over to Charles, Dr. Charles Zhang. Charles, please proceed.
Thanks, Wang, and thank you everyone for joining our call. During the fourth quarter of 2021 and the whole year, we faced ongoing significant challenges from the macroeconomic environment and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these headwinds, we were proactive in refining our technology, developing product innovations, improving operating efficiency, and exploring differentiated monetization opportunities. In the fourth quarter, we were ahead of our guidance in brand advertising revenue and achieved profitability for the full year and every quarter in 2021. For Sohu Media and Sohu Video, we provided better user experience through improvements in products and social interaction features. We applied advanced live broadcasting technologies to large and unique content marketing events. Based on the competitive advantages of the Sohu product matrix, these live broadcasting events helped us to generate a high volume of premium content and wide social distribution.
We were able to further consolidate our influence as a mainstream media platform and better capture advertisers' attention and budgets. For Changyou, its online game business delivered in-line quarterly results, while its overall revenue of 2021 continued to grow year-over-year. Let me go to details about each of these businesses in a moment, but first, a quick overview of our financial performance. For the fourth quarter of 2021, total revenue was $193 million, down 24% year-over-year and 11% quarter-over-quarter. Brand advertising revenue $34 million, down 20% year-over-year and flat quarter-over-quarter. Online game revenue $144 million, down 27% year-over-year and 14% quarter-over-quarter. GAAP net income attributable to Sohu.com Limited $4 million.
It was $4 million compared with the net income of $47 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, and net income of $12 million in the third quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Sohu.com Limited was $200,000, compared with the net income of $53 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, and net income of $17 million in the third quarter of 2021. For the whole year of 2021, total revenue was $836 million, up 11% compared with 2020. Brand advertising revenue $135 million, down 8% compared with 2020. Online game revenue $638 million, up 19% compared with 2020.
GAAP net income attributable to Sohu.com Limited was $69 million, compared with the net income of $33 million in 2020, excluding the impact of an additional accrual of withholding income tax recognized by Changyou in the second quarter of 2020. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Sohu.com Limited was $79 million, compared with a net income of $51 million in 2020, excluding the impact of the additional accrual of withholding income tax described above. Now I will go through some of our key businesses. First, Sohu Media Portal and Sohu Video. At Sohu Media Portal during 2021, we continued to refine our products. We developed and upgraded the audio function of our news app.
We continuously enhanced the user experience by extending the app's application scenarios and enriching our content presentation formats, and also refined the app's social network distribution features by providing greater motivation for user interactions with other users. We're able to further strengthen our differentiated advantages as a mainstream media platform. For Sohu Video, we have a twin engine strategy that we are executing with a focus on both high quality original dramas and reality shows, and the steady development of social distribution of short-form video content. Leveraging our advanced live broadcasting technology, we were able to further accelerate the layout of value live broadcasting and extend it to scientific knowledge courses.
We have attracted scholars and scientists in a number of fields to share their knowledge and interact with our users on the platform, which has strengthened our reputation in the field of scientifically and knowledge-based focused learning. On the monetization side, we comprehensively integrated our live broadcasting technology with a number of innovative content marketing campaigns. Despite the weak macroeconomic environment, we have developed attractive marketing strategies to gain attention from advertisers and to secure their advertising budgets. In December, we successfully hosted several flagship events such as 2021 Sohu Fashion Awards and the Sohu Finance Annual Conference. These events have generated an array of premium content and created social distribution across both media and platform, video platforms.
Through the application of our live broadcasting technology and the synergies with the growing Sohu product mergers, we attracted not only audiences but also advertisers by providing these unique marketing opportunities to them, and we're better able to meet advertisers' demand and capture their advertising dollars. Now for Changyou. During the fourth quarter of 2021, Changyou's online games revenue declined on a sequential basis, in line with our prior guidance, due to the natural decline of TLBB Vintage and the licensed game, Little Raccoon Heroes. In our PC games business lines, we improved player experience by reducing the number of repetitive daily quests for regular TLBB PC. We also introduced a skill enhancement system and corresponding quest line for TLBB Vintage to keep the game fresh.
For mobile games, we launched an expansion pack of Legacy TLBB Mobile, featuring the addition of a new clan and various events for the National Day and New Year holidays. Next quarter, we'll roll out new expansion packs and make adjustments to game content for TLBB PC, Legacy TLBB Mobile, Little Raccoon Heroes, and other games to sustain their vitality. In terms of the game pipeline, several key games are under development, and we are now in the process of fine-tuning them. We look forward to bringing them to players soon. In the year ahead, Changyou will execute its top game strategy and by promoting innovation, building the capacity of its team, and rolling out more high-quality mobile games, including, MMORPGs and other diversified products.
Before I pass the call to Joanna to go through the financial results in detail, we'd like to give you an update on the share repurchase program of up to $100 million announced on November 13, 2021. As of February 18, 2022, Sohu had repurchased 3,079,064 ADS shares under the share repurchase program for an aggregate cost of approximately $53 million. Basically half.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Spent half of the $100 million. With that, I will now turn the call to Joanna. Joanna?
Thank you, Charles. I will walk you through the key financials of our major segments for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2021. All of the numbers that I will mention are all on a non-GAAP basis. You may find the reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures on our IR website. Starting with Sohu Media Portal. Quarterly revenues were $90 million, down 20% year-over-year and up 16% quarter-over-quarter. The quarterly operating loss was $38 million, compared with an operating loss of $28 million in the same quarter last year. For the full year 2021, Sohu Media Portal revenues were $76 million, down 13% compared with 2020. The full year operating loss, $134 million, compared with an operating loss of $92 million in 2020.
For Sohu Video, quarterly revenues were $23 million, down 1% year-over-year, and flat quarter-over-quarter. The quarterly operating loss was $11 million, flat with the same quarter of last year. For the full year 2021, Sohu Video revenues were $87 million, down 4% compared with 2020. The full year operating loss was $47 million, compared with an operating loss of $43 million in 2020. For Changyou, quarterly revenues, including 17173, $146 million, down 27% year-over-year, and 14% quarter-over-quarter. Changyou posted an operating profit of $55 million, compared with $104 million in the same quarter last year. For the full year 2021, total revenues were $649 million, up 18% compared with 2020.
Changyou posted an operating profit of $310 million, compared with an operating profit of $238 million in 2020. For the first quarter of 2022, we expect brand advertising revenues to be between $23 million and $26 million. This implies annual decrease of 15%-25%, and a sequential decrease of 23%-32%. We expect online game revenues to be between $130 million and $140 million. This implies annual decrease of 21%-26%, and a sequential decrease of 3%-10%. We expect non-GAAP net loss attributable to Sohu.com Limited to be between $10 million and $20 million. We expect GAAP net loss attributable to Sohu.com Limited to be between $13 million and $23 million.
This forecast reflects our current and preliminary view, which is subject to substantial uncertainty. This concludes our prepared remarks. Operators, we would now like to open the call for questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to withdraw your request, please press the pound or hash key. Our first question comes from the line of Thomas Chong from Jefferies. Please ask your question.
Hi, good evening. Thanks, management, for taking my questions. Hi, Charles. I just want to get some color with regard to our user growth strategies. I remember in last quarter, we talk about a number of our strategies and the significance to drive the user growth for the media business. Just want to get some color about the way or the strategies that we are going to do it, and how much are we going to spend in 2022. My follow-up question would be regarding the advertising outlook in 2022. We have above the Q1 advertising guidance.
I just want to get a sense about under what situation will we hit the high end of the guidance and the low end of the guidance? Thank you.
Okay. The user-based growth strategy, basically for the Sohu Media, the Sohu News app and also Sohu Video. For Sohu News app, we'll continue with our traditional, basically, the provision of high quality news and content with editorial excellence and also the recommendation, you know, algorithm. We'll also develop this social network channel, basically, so that we hope that. Now and also with the audio feature. With all these, basically the editorial content and the recommendation channel and also the social network distribution channel, and also the audio.
All these features we've developed over the last two years, and they've been maturing. Now we'll probably spend more money on marketing and on channels, on the distribution channels, on user acquisitions, so that we'll have more users to come to our site and to our app and to test basically to test if our
Products over the last two or three years have been well-developed or in the right direction, so that we hope that we'll have some. You know, with more users, to have some viral or chain reaction events or explosion or some kind of those kind of things, you know. That's our strategy. It's basically we've been refining the products for quite a few years, and now it's we put it to a test of a higher number of volumes of users by spending more money to acquire users to prove and then to have and basically to generate to have some kind of viral or explosive effect or chain reaction effect. That's our strategy.
For video, similar, you know, for the news, it's really news. It's content and news. I mean, for the video, it's video content and we'll continue with our. We'll probably have more drama, and then we'll also have the live broadcasting and knowledge base broadcasting and the knowledge base short form video clips. Two-engine strategy, and also we'll spend more on user acquisitions to prove our, you know, also the product direction in the last few years, last two or three years. We'll spend some money on user acquisition. You know, you may ask, you know, we have so much cash, so what are we going to do with it?
Besides the, you know, share repurchase, we'll spend on product and on, especially, on user acquisition to improve, to test our product. On the advertising forecast, is that the high end or low end?
Mm-hmm.
I think the-
Yes. About the overall advertising trend, and how we would hit the high end and the low end of the guidance. Thank you, Charles.
Overall, as we said that there's you know the macroeconomic situation is not that good. In particular the real estate industry. A problem with the real estate industry and also the auto industry due to the lack of chips so that automobile companies have a limited budget for marketing because they actually don't have products to roll out. That's the challenges we face and we are going to face. That's why during Q3 and Q4 we had innovative unique events both in content. In our activities and events have dual feature. It's content at the same time it's marketing opportunity.
That's why we have this in Q3 we have the mountain the snow mountain you know mountaineering snow mountain climbing and live broadcasting events. In Q4 we have the finance conference and also professional awards and all those kind of things. We provide a unique, besides the regular advertising, we have this unique you know no other company don't have that kind of thing. You know we have these kind of unique marketing opportunities for advertisers. That's why we were able to achieve. Even amid this you know softness of the market and decreasing advertising dollars we were able to exceed the guidance because we were able to.
In Q1, we'll continue to have this and spend, but in Q1, we'll start our user acquisition process so that we hope that in this coming year, in the next, you know, in this year, we'll see some reasonable or quite some kind of growth of a user base, which will also help with our advertising, or hit the high end or low end. I'm not sure. Today is already mid of the quarter, right?
Mm-hmm.
The seasonality is similar to last year.
Mm-hmm.
As I said, the slowing real estate industry and also the lack of chips for auto have an effect on Q1. That's why we are forecasting a, you know, decrease of 15%.
Yeah.
Compared with last year's Q1.
Got it. Thank you, Charles.
Okay.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Eddie Leung from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Please ask the question.
Good evening, guys. Thank you for taking my questions. Just a follow-up to Tom's question on the advertising environment. Charles, you mentioned that some of the weaker advertiser industries. Could you also talk a little bit about which industry you see relatively stronger for you guys? Also, you mentioned the real estate and auto weakness. When your sales team talks to them for the full year 2022 budget, do you get a sense that they see kind of a bottom out in sometime this year? Which means they plan to increase the budget after that. Thank you.
I think for the auto industry, it is. I think the chip shortage will bottom out, I think, right?
Mm-hmm.
That's good news. Actually, even in Q4, with that problem because of our unique marketing opportunities because overall the advertisers now have limited budgets, so the more like, you know, they favor or like more like those kind of unique marketing activities instead of just spending money on a regular advertising, you know, format, like banners or the, you know, those kind of things. That's why even in Q4, amid this chip shortages, our auto industry, auto revenue, auto advertising share of auto companies are actually higher than before, right? Now 29%.
Mm-hmm.
We hope. I think this year for the auto industry will be somewhat. It should be a better year than last year. Real estate, I'm not sure. Real estate is a problem, you know.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Alicia Yap from Citigroup. Please ask your question.
Hi. Good evening, management. Thanks for taking my questions. I have a few questions. The first one is a follow-up on the advertising guidance. So just wondering, you know, this macro weakness that you're seeing, is that more or less in line with your earlier expectation or the macro or this ad sentiment actually gets weaker, into 1Q from the 4Q level that you see? And any preliminary view on the overall ad budget sentiment, when can we see a recovery? You know, which quarter we can see the recovery of the ad sentiment? That's my first question.
Okay. Basically, I think there's not much change in Q4 in terms of a preliminary you know expectation in Q4 and now. Q4 is already you know weaker than the last year's Q4, right? Q1 similar. This year, the only difference is that the Chinese New Year happened like two weeks earlier, right?
Mm-hmm.
And, uh... So that-
Mm.
Similar.
Any, any vi-
Yeah.
Okay. I see. Any view will that start to see some rebounds of the sentiment in 2Q or will that be in 3Q?
As I said, I think the chips problem will probably not be later part of this year from my you know conversation with some of the auto industry advertisers. I think since you know our advertising total amount of advertising is not that big. In Sohu's case, I don't think Sohu's case will represent a general industry's case. Sohu's performance will more depend on whether we are able to continue to have very successful marketing activities and also whether we are able to get you know really user uptake, right? User base uptake. That's the thing that
Since our market share is so, I mean, the share of advertising, the dollar is so small, I don't think our advertising dollar trend represent the industry trend. It really reflect our own performance. I, you know.
I see. Okay. Got you. Second question is on the spending. I think last quarter you mentioned, you know, given the cash you have, and then now this is the chance that you can kind of spend on the user growth. I saw in 4Q on your sales and marketing, it came in, you know, much higher than the previous quarter, which is at around $55 million. Should we actually use this as more, going forward, this will be the quarterly spend that you will be spending into each of these quarter in 2022? Or will that be even higher than this number? I think that kind of also relate to my questions on your last guidance, right?
It does look like it's from the sequential basis. I know it's, you know, revenues are declining, you know, that it's turned into a loss quarter. Right. Versus last year, I think every quarter you have a profit quarter. Can you kind of like, you know, help us bring the relationship with the sales and marketing spend versus your sequential weakness on the revenue guidance that results-
So-
in the net loss guidance.
Whether we are-
Yeah.
You mentioned the $55 million. Is that include Changyou or just only Sohu?
Both of them.
Include Changyou.
Uh.
If you include Changyou.
Both of them. Yeah.
It's hard to see because Changyou's revenue base is so big so that, you know-
Mm-hmm
Just Sohu's revenue just buried in the numbers. You have to look at separately the two, you know, right? I think when we turn from last quarter's profitability or into like breakeven quarter, that's largely due to Changyou's. Right. Changyou, as you know, the TLBB Vintage, right? It's the benefit of Vintage already and TLBB Vintage, and also Little Raccoon Heroes, right?
Mm-hmm.
You have to look at separately. If you look at the Sohu along the media and video, actually in Q4, our marketing budget does not increase that much, right? Because you're talking about $50 million, $55 million, that's because of Changyou spending on-
Mm-hmm.
Red Cone, right? Little Red Cone, right? We have the spending. If you like, look at it, Sohu's media and Sohu news app and Sohu Video, we, you know, just slightly increased the marketing in Q4, and we'll definitely spend more. We-
I see.
Because we're not going to, you know, spend. We're going to spend wisely, and we'll spend very carefully, and we'll really look hard at, you know, ROI. Not because we have a lot of cash, we'll just, you know, spend the money. We're going to spend it very carefully, but we're going to spend money. We actually in Q4, we did some pilot spending to see how the user acquisition goes. Then we'll continue that, and we will definitely spend more than Q4 this year.
Mm-hmm. I see.
We'll make sure the user.
Okay. Last-
If we spend money.
I see. Okay. Got you. That's very helpful. Thanks for clarifying on that, the business difference on the Changyou and the media, and video. Lastly, I think on the share repurchase, I think you guys been, you know, kind of like leveraging the opportunity very well. It's already bought back half of your authorized program. In the event, let's say, if you use up the remaining of the, you know, buyback program later in the next, you know, few months or in a one or two quarters, would the board consider to authorize a new, you know, share buyback program if you use up later?
Probably not, or we don't know. Let's finish the other half, and then we'll see.
Okay. All right, cool. Thank you. That's all my questions. Yeah.
All right.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Jasper Drescher from JBD Holding. Please ask your question.
Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, management, for a good presentation, and thanks for taking my question. I've got two questions. One is in regards to Changyou, where Charles last year said that if the conditions were great, you would consider a Shanghai listing. Could you elaborate on how you see the conditions?
Hong Kong.
Secondly-
Hong Kong.
Oh, Hong Kong. Okay. Sorry. My second question is in regards to Sogou. As I understand it, they are leasing 18,000 sq m from sohu.com. Have you considered selling that property now when Sogou is not a part of the group anymore? Thanks.
Well, I think in terms of Hong Kong listing, you know, we don't have a particular time schedule yet. We'll see the opportunity as opportunity goes. In terms of the leasing, I think we'll continue happily to be the landlord, right? To collect rent, right? We're not going to sell. Yeah. No. Why should we sell a building? We don't need cash, right? We already have a lot of cash. Why do we sell buildings?
Yeah. You can give it to the shareholders. I was just curious. Yeah.
So?
Okay.
All right. Thank you. There are no further questions. With that, we conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.