How Advertising Powers China's IPO Darling Alibaba

Makes billions from marketing

Alibaba Group finally announced its long awaited public offering Tuesday, disclosing for the first time its financial statements that reveal the inner workings of this Chinese Internet hydra with tentacles in e-commerce, e-payments, social media, messaging, investing, cloud computing, mobile—and most importantly advertising.

Alibaba, founded by Jack Ma in 1999, is primarily an e-commerce platform serving wholesalers, retailers, major brands and consumers. Its websites and apps generated $250 billion in sales in 2013, the company reported.

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