China's leading microblogging platform for news, trends and celebrity culture.
Weibo at a glance
Weibo is a social media website and one of the most visited sites in China, currently ranked #5 in the country. It was founded in 2009 by Charles Chao / Sina Corporation team and is headquartered in Beijing, China. Today Weibo is owned by Weibo Corporation (majority owned by Sina Corporation, with Alibaba as a minority investor). Our estimates put its audience at ≈ 850 million visits per month. The business earns money mainly through social and display advertising, fan ticket (feed) advertising for brands and influencers, value-added services (vip memberships, verification badges). Its closest rivals include Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RED), WeChat Moments, X (Twitter, blocked in China).
Traffic statistics
Traffic history
| Period | Visits | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ≈ 820 million / month | — |
| Q2 | ≈ 840 million / month | +2% |
| Q3 | ≈ 870 million / month | +4% |
| Q4 | ≈ 850 million / month | -2% |
Traffic sources
- Direct / app60%
- Organic search15%
- Referral (news embeds, celebrity mentions)15%
- Social cross-posting7%
- Paid & other3%
Audience & demographics
- Women56%
- Men44%
- Age 18-2435%
- Age 25-3431%
- Age 35-5424%
- Age 55+10%
Weibo's audience skews young and urban, with heavy engagement from students and young professionals following entertainment, celebrity and trending-topic content.
Geographic reach
- China95%
- Overseas Chinese communities3%
- Other2%
SEO profile
- Organic keywords
- Millions of trending topic and celebrity terms
- Estimated organic traffic
- ≈ 130 million visits / month
- Strongest clusters
- Trending hashtags, celebrity news and viral topics
Top organic keywords
| Keyword | Position | Volume | Traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 微博 | 1 | Very high | — |
| 微博热搜 | 1 | High | — |
| 微博登录 | 1 | High | — |
Backlink profile
- Referring domains
- Hundreds of thousands
- Link profile
- Heavily linked from news sites embedding Weibo posts
Top referral sources
- Direct / app50%
- Search engines25%
- News sites embedding posts15%
- Other social platforms10%
Technology stack
Website technologies
Advertising & analytics technologies
Weibo's real-time trending topics ('hot search') list is a major driver of engagement and is closely watched by media, celebrities and brands for viral moments.
Mobile app statistics
- Daily active users (mobile)
- ≈ 240 million
- Trending topic views
- Billions per month
Company information
- Website
- weibo.com
- Sector
- Social Media
- Owner
- Weibo Corporation (majority owned by Sina Corporation, with Alibaba as a minority investor)
- Owner type
- Public company (NASDAQ: WB)
- Founders
- Charles Chao / Sina Corporation team
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- Beijing, China
- Employees
- ≈ 6,000
- Ownership
- Sina Corporation holds a majority stake; Alibaba Group holds a significant minority stake; remaining shares trade publicly on NASDAQ
- Valuation
- Market capitalisation approximately USD 3-4 billion
- Revenue
- ≈ RMB 17 billion (≈ USD 2.4 billion) annually
- Languages
- Chinese (Simplified), limited English support
- Top traffic sources
- Direct, app, organic search
Ownership, investors & funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | IPO | NASDAQ listing | Public markets, Alibaba Group (strategic investor) |
Financials
- Revenue trend
- Advertising revenue sensitive to macroeconomic and ad-market cycles
- Profitability
- Generally profitable, with margins pressured by content moderation costs
- Cost base
- Content moderation, infrastructure, marketing
Business model & revenue
Weibo monetises attention through social feed advertising, similar to X (Twitter) and Instagram, supplemented by verified account subscriptions, fan-engagement tools for celebrities and brands, and emerging live-commerce features.
- Social and display advertising
- Fan Ticket (Feed) advertising for brands and influencers
- Value-added services (VIP memberships, verification badges)
- Live-streaming and content-related e-commerce commissions
- Game and app promotion
Products & services
Core microblogging timeline for text, images and video posts.
Real-time trending topics ranking, widely followed for breaking news.
Fan community pages for celebrities, brands and interests.
Live-streaming feature for creators and influencers.
Seller ecosystem
- Verified brand accounts
- Hundreds of thousands
- Influencers and KOLs
- Millions of content creators
- Monetisation
- Advertising, fan tickets and live-commerce commissions
International presence
- Primary market
- Mainland China
- Secondary audience
- Overseas Chinese diaspora and K-pop/entertainment fan communities
Employee statistics
Customer statistics
Website rankings
- Country rank (China)
- #5 most visited site
- Sector rank
- #1 microblogging / social media platform
Main competitors
Website comparisons
| Website | Monthly visits | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| weibo.com | ≈ 850M / month | #1 microblogging platform | — |
| xiaohongshu.com | ≈ 500M / month | Lifestyle/social commerce competitor | — |
| douyin.com | ≈ 2B+ / month | Short-video leader with overlapping social use cases | — |
Overview
Weibo is China's leading microblogging platform, often described as the country's answer to X (Twitter). Launched by Sina in 2009, it is a central hub for breaking news, celebrity culture and viral trending topics.
Traffic Statistics
Weibo attracts an estimated 850 million monthly visits, with roughly 600 million monthly active users and 260 million daily active users. Average sessions last about nine minutes across seven pages.
Traffic Sources
The majority of traffic is direct through the mobile app, with organic search and referrals from news sites embedding Weibo posts also contributing meaningfully.
Audience & Demographics
Weibo's audience skews young and urban, with more than a third of users aged 18-24, reflecting strong engagement with entertainment and celebrity content.
Geographic Reach
Traffic is concentrated in mainland China, with a secondary audience among overseas Chinese communities and international fans following Chinese entertainment.
SEO Profile
Weibo ranks highly for trending-topic and celebrity-related search terms, with an estimated 130 million monthly visits arriving via organic search.
Technology Stack
Weibo runs on custom feed and recommendation infrastructure alongside Sina Cloud, with a real-time trending topic engine that powers its widely followed Hot Search feature.
Social Media Statistics
Weibo's own official account reaches roughly 100 million followers, and the platform maintains presences on WeChat and Douyin as well.
Mobile App Statistics
The Weibo app has surpassed a billion downloads, with roughly 240 million daily active mobile users and billions of monthly views on trending topics.
Company Information
Weibo Corporation is headquartered in Beijing and was founded in 2009 by Sina Corporation, employing roughly 6,000 people.
Ownership & Investors
Sina Corporation holds a majority stake in Weibo, with Alibaba Group as a significant minority investor; remaining shares trade publicly on NASDAQ.
Financials
Weibo generates approximately RMB 17 billion in annual revenue, primarily through advertising, with profitability sensitive to broader ad-market cycles.
Business Model
Weibo monetises attention through social feed advertising and Fan Ticket tools for brands and celebrities, supplemented by VIP memberships and emerging live-commerce features.
Products & Services
Core products include the main Weibo feed, the real-time Hot Search trending list, Super Topics fan community pages and Weibo Live streaming.
Competitors
Weibo competes with Douyin and Xiaohongshu for social attention, alongside WeChat Moments for personal sharing, while X (Twitter) remains blocked in China.
Company History & Milestones
Since launching in 2009, Weibo has taken on Alibaba as a strategic investor in 2013, completed its NASDAQ IPO in 2014, introduced Super Topics in 2016 and expanded into live-streaming and short video in recent years.
Latest News
Weibo continues strengthening content moderation ahead of major public events and reports growing advertising revenue tied to short-video integration.
User Reviews & Ratings
Users value Weibo's real-time trending topics and celebrity culture content, while the platform faces ongoing scrutiny over censorship and content moderation practices.
Pros & Cons
Pros: best-in-class trending topic discovery, strong fan community features and wide use by brands and media. Cons: strict content moderation, rising competition from Douyin and cyclical ad revenue.
Key Statistics
~850 million monthly visits, ~600 million monthly active users, ~6,000 employees and the #5 most-visited site in China.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Weibo? Sina Corporation (majority) and Alibaba Group (minority), publicly traded on NASDAQ. Is it the same as X/Twitter? Similar concept, independent Chinese platform. How does it make money? Advertising and fan-engagement tools.
Data Sources
Weibo Corporation public filings, third-party traffic estimation providers and app store listings.
Last Updated
September 2026
Related Websites
Sina.com, Douyin and Xiaohongshu.
Website Rankings
#5 most visited website in China and the leading microblogging platform in the country.
Revenue & Funding History
Weibo completed its NASDAQ IPO in 2014 after taking on Alibaba as a strategic investor in 2013, funding continued product expansion.
Employee Statistics
Weibo employs roughly 6,000 people, with the largest teams in content moderation, engineering and advertising sales.
Customer Statistics
Weibo serves approximately 600 million monthly active users, making it China's top microblogging platform.
Backlink Profile
Weibo receives extensive links from news sites embedding posts and quoting trending topics, giving it a broad and constantly refreshed backlink profile.
Top Organic Keywords
Terms such as "微博", "微博热搜" and "微博登录" account for a large share of organic search demand.
Top Referral Sources
Direct app usage, search engines and news sites embedding Weibo posts are the leading referral sources.
Website Technologies
Custom feed infrastructure, Sina Cloud, a real-time trending topic engine and native mobile apps.
Advertising & Analytics Technologies
The Weibo Ads platform, Fan Ticket advertising tools and the Weibo Data Center analytics suite.
API & Developer Information
Weibo provides an open API platform for third-party developers to build login, sharing and content-posting integrations.
International Seller Opportunities
International and cross-border brands use Weibo's advertising and KOL ecosystem to reach Chinese consumers, particularly in fashion, beauty and entertainment categories.
Company history & milestones
- 2009
Sina launches Weibo as a microblogging platform.
- 2013
Alibaba Group takes a strategic minority stake.
- 2014
Weibo Corporation IPO on NASDAQ.
- 2016
Introduces Super Topics fan community pages.
- 2020s
Expands live-streaming and short-video features to compete with Douyin.
Latest news
- Weibo strengthens content moderation ahead of major eventsCompany announcement · 2026
- Weibo reports growth in advertising revenue from short-video integrationWeibo Investor Relations · 2026
User reviews & ratings
| Source | Score | Reviews | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| App store aggregate | ≈ 4.2 / 5 | Millions | — |
| Consumer sentiment | Mixed | High volume | Valued for real-time news, criticised for aggressive content moderation |
Users value Weibo's real-time trending topics and celebrity culture content, while facing scrutiny over censorship and content moderation practices.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Best-in-class real-time trending topic discovery in China
- Strong celebrity, entertainment and fan community engagement
- Widely used by brands, media and public figures for announcements
- Deep integration with the Alibaba commerce ecosystem
Cons
- Subject to strict content moderation and censorship requirements
- Increasing competition from Douyin and Xiaohongshu for social attention
- Advertising revenue is cyclical and sensitive to economic conditions
- Limited relevance or access outside mainland China
Key statistics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Weibo?
Weibo Corporation is majority owned by Sina Corporation, with Alibaba Group holding a significant minority stake; it trades publicly on NASDAQ.
Is Weibo the same as X (Twitter)?
Weibo is often compared to X/Twitter as a microblogging platform, but it operates independently within China's regulatory environment and has its own feature set, including Super Topics and Hot Search.
How does Weibo make money?
Primarily through social and feed advertising, Fan Ticket tools for brands and celebrities, VIP memberships and live-commerce commissions.
Popular searches
Data sources & confidence
- Weibo Corporation public filingsWeibo Investor Relations
- Third-party traffic estimation providersSimilarweb-class estimates
- App store listingsApple App Store, Google Play
- Data confidence
- High for ownership and corporate milestones; traffic and revenue figures are third-party estimates.
- Last updated
- September 2026
Traffic and financial figures are rounded third-party estimates, reviewed quarterly.
Social media profiles & statistics