Tencent on the hunt for online revenue with WeChat service

Dong Xu, an analyst at IT consultancy Analysys International, said partnering with TenPay will create more possibilities for cooperation "where merchants can hunt for business opportunities themselves".

The Internet giant's commercialization drive has raised expectations for social media to translate their growing user numbers into profits.

While the majority of Internet companies are not averse to monetization, prior attempts have largely proved to be lukewarm, Dong noted.

For instance, Sina Corp, which owns micro-blogging service Weibo, has recently launched an online payment service in a bid to transform its heavy Web traffic into revenue amid increasing competition.

"But Weibo is faced with a setback as the micro-blog service adopts rampant intrusive advertisements and wears out users' patience. This is the one pitfall WeChat should skirt," Dong said.

Tencent has repeatedly sent signals that it would avoid bombarding WeChat users with advertisements. For example, it shut down two public accounts for their virus-like spreading of advertisements.

Wu Xiaoguang, chief executive officer of Tencent E-commerce Holding Co, has pointed out the shrinking ranks of Tencent's PC users. "That's why we are looking for ways to attract more people to WeChat service and mobile QQ," he said.

Tong Yang, marketing director of allgood.com, a Shanghai-based marketing firm, said: "Tencent has made 40 billion yuan from QQ users on PCs and mobile phones, and now these people are driven to WeChat. It will definitely become a main part of Tencent's future."

But Tong predicts the company's monetization plan will face new challenges, notably the possibility that the country's three mobile operators will charge for its use.