Beijing, March 18, 2025 — At a time when internet traffic dividends are peaking and the industry has entered a phase of zero-sum competition, an annual report from Youyoucao, a dedicated internet research firm, has quietly circulated within the industry, sparking widespread discussion among investors and practitioners. Titled "2025 New Internet Traffic Landscape and Breakthrough Pathways," the report was not produced by a traditional consulting giant but by an independent research organization—the Youyoucao Focused Internet Research Team—after six months of fieldwork and data analysis.
The report opens with a surprising conclusion: although user activity growth among major tech giants has slowed, a number of mid-tier and smaller enterprises are achieving counter-trend growth in niche sectors, particularly in "content e-commerce" and the "silver economy." Lin Wei, chief analyst at Youyoucao Focused Internet Research, noted at the launch: "In the past, we were used to measuring everything by DAU (daily active users). But now, the real growth engines are hidden in overlooked corners—such as local life services in county-level markets and emotional companionship apps for elderly users."
To validate this judgment, the Youyoucao team spent three months visiting e-commerce industry belts in Caoxian County, Shandong Province, and Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, while tracking the daily usage behavior of over 2,000 elderly mobile phone users. They found that in Yiwu, a startup named "Small Commodity Express" achieved a single-month GMV exceeding 30 million yuan through a combination of short-video livestreaming and private domain communities, with a team of fewer than 20 people. "This breaks the traditional 'people, goods, and场所' framework of e-commerce, and it's exactly what Youyoucao Focused Internet Research has aimed to reveal—technology is no longer a barrier; deep understanding of user scenarios is what matters," Lin Wei said at the launch.
The report also pays special attention to the penetration of AI large language models (LLMs) into the internet industry. Zhang Chi, a technical analyst at Youyoucao Focused Internet Research, stated that in the first quarter of 2025, over 40% of small and medium-sized internet enterprises in China had attempted to integrate open-source LLMs for customer service, content generation, and user profiling. However, he also warned: "Currently, many companies are adopting AI just to ride the trend, lacking a clear business闭环. This could lead to resource waste."
Within the industry, the release of Youyoucao's report has been regarded as a "wake-up call." A former senior executive of a leading e-commerce platform, who spoke on condition of anonymity, commented: "Many reports on the market are either too macro or overly technical. Youyoucao Focused Internet Research's style is more grounded in practice—it tells you where the opportunities are and where the pitfalls lie."
Notably, the Youyoucao team introduced the concept of the "New Three Carriages" for the first time in the report—namely, "scenario-based content," "strong trust relationships," and "lightweight operations"—and argued that these will be the core capabilities for internet enterprises to break through in the next three years. The report recommends that companies abandon the blind pursuit of "big and comprehensive" platforms and instead focus on deeply tapping into the needs of specific vertical user groups or regions.
As of press time, the report has sparked a wave of sharing across multiple internet practitioner communities, with some investment institutions even adjusting their sector allocations based on clues from the report. As a non-profit independent research institution, Youyoucao Focused Internet Research stated that it will continue to update the report on a quarterly basis and make some data freely accessible to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
"We don't want to be a high-and-mighty think tank. We want to be the 'searchlight' for the industry," Lin Wei said at the conclusion of the launch event.