File photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

On March 28, it was announced that WeChat will soon launch a new feature called "Ask a Question" on its search function. This feature encourages users to ask questions and creators to provide answers.

This is also regarded as the WeChat version of "Zhihu" by the outside world. In "Ask a Question", creators can browse the frequently asked questions of users in WeChat and answer the questions they are interested in. High-quality answers will be displayed when users search for related questions, and users can repost or follow creators for approved answers.

Xu Jingfang, head of the search business, revealed that last year, the contribution of new fans on the public account driven by "Search" reached 27%, and the distribution of articles increased by 43% compared with last year; the contribution of new daily active users of mini programs accounted for 20%, the distribution volume of mini programs increased by 26% compared with last year; the number of new fans of video accounts increased by 120% compared with last year, and the volume of video distribution increased by 895% compared with last year.

In terms of video accounts, the data shows that last year, the sales of live broadcasts of video accounts increased by 800%, and the number of authors with accumulative income increased by 2.64 times compared with 2021.

The video account has become a well-deserved "C position" in the WeChat business. The financial report shows that the total usage time of WeChat will continue to grow in 2022.

The usage time of Mini Programs and Video Accounts was double and triple that of the same period last year, respectively, and both exceeded the usage time of Moments. The transaction volume of mini programs will reach trillions of yuan in 2022.

According to the forecast of Zheshang Securities, by 2024, the video account is expected to bring Tencent about 24 billion yuan in incremental advertising revenue, about 18 billion yuan in incremental pre-tax profit and about 15 billion yuan in incremental net profit.