Share-Based Compensation Expense [Abstract]

The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments.

+ References

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+ Details

Share-Based Compensation Expense

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Share-Based Compensation Expense

3.	Share-Based Compensation Expense

Sohu (excluding Fox Video Limited), Sogou, Changyou, and Fox Video Limited (“Sohu Video”) have incentive plans for the granting of share-based awards, including stock options, share options and restricted share units, to members of the boards of directors, management and other key employees.

Sohu (excluding Sohu Video), Sogou, and Changyou Share-based Awards

For Sohu (excluding Sohu Video) stock options that Sohu granted before 2006 and Sohu restricted share units, Sogou share-based awards, and Changyou share-based awards under the Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan, share-based compensation expense is recognized as costs and expenses in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income based on the fair value of the related share-based awards on their grant dates.

For Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses, share-based compensation expense is recognized in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income based on the then-current fair value at each reporting date.

For 1,068,000 Sohu stock options contractually granted on February 7, 2015, 13,000 Sohu stock options contractually granted on May 1, 2016, 2,400,000 Changyou share options converted from restricted share units on February 16, 2015, and 1,998,000 and 100,000 Changyou share options contractually granted on June 1, 2015 and July 28, 2016, respectively, awards are expected to vest and become exercisable in four equal installments over a period of four years, with each installment vesting upon satisfaction of a service period requirement and certain subjective performance targets. Under ASC 718-10-25, no grant date can be established until a mutual understanding is reached between the companies and the recipients clarifying the subjective performance requirements. In accordance with ASC 718-10-55, as the service inception date preceded the grant date, compensation expense was accrued beginning on the service inception date, and was re-measured and will be re-measured on each subsequent reporting date before the grant date is established, based on the then-current fair value of the awards. The estimate of the awards’ fair value will be fixed in the period in which the grant date occurs, and cumulative compensation expense will be adjusted based on the fair value at the grant date. In determining the fair value of stock options and share options granted by Sohu and Changyou, the public market price of the underlying shares at each reporting date was used, and a binomial valuation model was applied.

Sohu Video Share-based Awards

On January 4, 2012, Sohu Video, the holding entity of Sohu’s video division, adopted a 2011 Share Incentive Plan (the “Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan”) which provides for the issuance of up to 25,000,000 ordinary shares of Sohu Video (representing approximately 10% of the outstanding Sohu Video shares on a fully-diluted basis) to management and key employees of the video division and to Sohu management. As of September 30, 2016, grants of options for the purchase of 16,368,200 ordinary shares of Sohu Video had been contractually made, of which options for the purchase of 4,972,800 ordinary shares were vested.

For purposes of ASC 718-10-25, as of September 30, 2016, no grant date had occurred, because the broader terms and conditions of the option awards had neither been finalized nor mutually agreed upon with the recipients. Therefore the fair value of the awards is not determinable and cannot be accounted for. In accordance with ASC 718-10-55, the Company’s management determined that the service inception date with respect to vested option awards for the purchase of 4,972,800 shares had preceded the grant date. Therefore, the Group recognized compensation expense for these vested Sohu Video share-based awards and re-measured, and will re-measure, the compensation expense on each subsequent reporting date based on the then-current fair values of these vested awards until the grant date is established.

Share-based Compensation Expense Recognition

Share-based compensation expense was recognized in costs and expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively, as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
Share-based compensation expense	2015			2016		2015		2016
Cost of revenues	$	99		$	295	$	957	$	294
Product development expenses (1)		(1,331	)		4,105		9,680		5,801
Sales and marketing expenses		466			752		1,573		927
General and administrative expenses (1)		(1,536	)		8,018		16,255		9,125

	$	(2,302	)	$	13,170	$	28,465	$	16,147

Share-based compensation expense was recognized for share awards of Sohu (excluding Sohu Video), Sogou, Changyou and Sohu Video as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
Share-based compensation expense	2015			2016		2015		2016
For Sohu (excluding Sohu Video) share-based awards	$	2,294		$	5,639	$	15,031	$	4,749
For Sogou share-based awards (1) (2)		(1,230	)		180		5,706		2,505
For Changyou share-based awards (1)		(3,465	)		7,202		7,529		9,340
For Sohu Video share-based awards (1)		99			149		199		(447	)

	$	(2,302	)	$	13,170	$	28,465	$	16,147

Note (1): The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Note (2): Compensation expense for Sogou share-based awards also includes compensation expense for Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses.

There was no capitalized share-based compensation expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016.

The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.

+ References + Details

Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements

4.	Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Sohu Group’s financial instruments include cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivable, assets held for sale, prepaid and other current assets, long-term investments (including available-for-sale equity securities), restricted time deposits, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, receipts in advance and deferred revenue, liabilities held for sale, other short-term liabilities and long-term accounts payable.

U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier hierarchy to prioritize the inputs used in the valuation methodologies in measuring the fair value of financial instruments. This hierarchy also requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The three-tier fair value hierarchy is:

Level 1 - observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 - include other inputs that are directly or indirectly observable in the market place.

Level 3 - unobservable inputs which are supported by little or no market activity.

Financial Instruments Measured at Fair Value

The following table sets forth the financial instruments, measured at fair value, by level within the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015 (in thousands):


			Fair value measurements at reporting date using
Items	As of December 31, 2015		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents	$	727,232	$	0	$	727,232	$	0
Restricted time deposits		363,979		0		363,979		0
Short-term investments		174,515		0		174,515		0
Available-for-sale equity securities		14,301		14,301		0		0

Total	$	1,280,027	$	14,301	$	1,265,726	$	0

The following table sets forth the financial instruments, measured at fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy, as of September 30, 2016 (in thousands):


			Fair value measurements at reporting date using
Items	As of September 30, 2016		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents	$	769,895	$	0	$	769,895	$	0
Short-term investments		264,109		0		264,109		0
Available-for-sale equity securities		12,180		12,180		0		0
Restricted time deposits		9,270		0		9,270		0

Total	$	1,055,454	$	12,180	$	1,043,274	$	0

Cash Equivalents

The Sohu Group’s cash equivalents mainly consist of time deposits with original maturities of three months or less, and highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash. The fair values of cash equivalents are determined based on the pervasive interest rates in the market. The Group classifies the valuation techniques that use the pervasive interest rates input as Level 2 of fair value measurements. Generally there are no quoted prices in active markets for identical cash equivalents at the reporting date. In order to determine the fair value, the Group must use the discounted cash flow method and observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Short-term Investments

In accordance with ASC 825, for investments in financial instruments with a variable interest rate indexed to performance of underlying assets, the Sohu Group elected the fair value method at the date of initial recognition and carried these investments at fair value. Changes in the fair value are reflected in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income as other income /(expense). To estimate fair value, the Group refers to the quoted rate of return provided by banks at the end of each period using the discounted cash flow method. The Group classifies the valuation techniques that use these inputs as Level 2 of fair value measurements.

As of September 30, 2016, the Sohu Group’s investment in financial instruments was $264.1 million. The investment instruments were issued by commercial banks in China, and have a variable interest rate indexed to performance of underlying assets. Since these investments’ maturity dates are within one year, they are classified as short-term investments. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Sohu Group recorded in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income changes in the fair value of short-term investments in the amounts of $2.8 million and $5.3 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Sohu Group recorded in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income changes in the fair value of short-term investments in the amounts of $3.0 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

Available-for-Sale Equity Securities

Available-for-sale equity securities are valued using the market approach based on the quoted prices in active markets at the reporting date. The Group classifies the valuation techniques that use these inputs as Level 1 of fair value measurements. On August 12, 2014, Sohu acquired approximately 6% of the total outstanding common shares of Keyeast Co., Ltd., a Korean-listed company (“Keyeast”), for a purchase price of $15.1 million. The Sohu Group classified this investment as available-for-sale equity securities under long-term investments, and reported it at fair value. As of September 30, 2016, the fair value of the Keyeast available-for-sale equity securities held by Sohu was $12.2 million. An unrealized loss representing the change in fair value of $2.9 million in the aggregate was recorded as accumulated other comprehensive income /(loss) in the Sohu Group’s consolidated balance sheets.

Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale

During the three months ended September 30, 2016, Changyou management determined that the Dolphin Browser was unable to provide expected synergies with Changyou’s platform business and therefore formed the intention to divest Changyou’s 51% equity interest in MoboTap, which is the mobile technology developer behind the Dolphin Browser. Therefore, the assets and liabilities attributable to MoboTap are classified as assets and liabilities held for sale and measured at the lower of their carrying amounts and their fair values, less selling costs, in the consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2016. Details of the aggregate assets and liabilities at September 30, 2016 are as follows (in thousands):


	As of September 30, 2016
Cash and cash equivalents	$	10,280
Prepaid and other current assets		2,579
Goodwill		83,470
Intangible assets		5,457

Assets held for sale	$	101,786

Other liabilities		3,236

Liabilities held for sale	$	3,236

Restricted Time Deposits

Restricted time deposits are valued based on the prevailing interest rates in the market using the discounted cash flow method. The Sohu Group classifies the valuation techniques that use these inputs as Level 2 of fair value measurements.

Collateral related to Sogou Incentive Shares Trust Arrangements

In February 2013, Sohu deposited $9.0 million in cash into restricted time deposit accounts at a bank as collateral for credit facilities provided by the bank to certain Sogou employees. The facilities were intended to fund the employees’ early exercise of Sogou share options and related PRC individual income tax. Sohu was not subject to any additional potential payments other than the restricted time deposit amounts, and believes that the fair value of its guarantee liability was immaterial.

Changyou Loans from Offshore Banks, Secured by Time Deposits

Commencing in 2012, Changyou drew down loans from offshore branches of certain banks, which are secured by an equivalent or greater amount of RMB deposits by Changyou in the onshore branches of such banks. The loans from the offshore branches of the lending banks are classified as short-term and long-term bank loans based on the loans’ payment terms.

In the first quarter of 2016, Changyou had repaid all of the remaining bank loans of $344.5 million, and restricted time deposits of $354.7 million that secured these loans had been released. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, interest income from the restricted time deposits securing the loans was nil and $0.7 million, respectively, and interest expense on the bank loans was nil and $0.6 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, interest income from the restricted time deposits securing the loans was $3.0 million and $10.2 million, respectively, and interest expense on the loans was $1.8 million and $5.3 million, respectively.

Other Financial Instruments

The fair values of other financial instruments are estimated for disclosure purposes as follows:

Long-term Investments

Long-term Investment in SoEasy

Under an agreement between Sohu and SoEasy Internet Finance Group Limited (“SoEasy”) entered into in August 2014, Sohu invested $4.8 million and $16.3 million in SoEasy on August 2014 and April 2015, respectively. In February 2016, Sohu invested an additional $10.5 million in SoEasy. Sohu accounted for its investments in SoEasy under long-term investments. These investments include both preferred shares and common shares. Sohu accounted for its investment in SoEasy’s preferred shares under the cost method, since they were not considered to be common shares in substance and had no readily determinable fair value. Sohu accounted for its investment in SoEasy’s common shares under the equity method, since Sohu can exercise significant influence but does not own a majority of SoEasy’s equity capital or control SoEasy. As of September 30, 2016, the carrying value of Sohu’s investment in SoEasy was $25.0 million.

Long-term Investment in Zhihu

In September 2015, Sogou paid $12.0 million in cash for approximately 3% of the equity capital of Zhihu Technology Limited (“Zhihu”), a company that engages primarily in the business of operating an online question and answer-based knowledge and information-sharing platform. Sogou accounted for the investment in Zhihu using the cost method, since Sogou does not have significant influence over Zhihu.

Short-term Receivables and Payables

Accounts receivable and prepaid and other current assets are financial assets with carrying values that approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. Short-term accounts payable, accrued liabilities, receipts in advance and deferred revenue and other short-term liabilities are financial liabilities with carrying values that approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. For short-term receivables and payables, the Group estimated fair values using the discounted cash flow method, which is unobservable in the market. The Group classifies the valuation technique as Level 2 of fair value measurements.

Long-term Payables

Long-term accounts payable are financial liabilities with carrying values that approximate fair value due to any changes in fair value, after considering the discount rate, being immaterial. For long-term accounts payable, the Group estimated fair values using the discounted cash flow method, which is unobservable in the market. The Sohu Group classifies the valuation technique as Level 2 of fair value measurements.

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details

Goodwill

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Goodwill [Abstract]

Goodwill

5. Goodwill

Changes in the carrying value of goodwill by segment are as follows (in thousands):


	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Total
Balance as of December 31, 2015
Goodwill	$	72,980			5,945			181,529			260,454
Accumulated impairment losses		(35,788	)		0			(70,447	)		(106,235	)

	$	37,192		$	5,945		$	111,082		$	154,219
Transactions in 2016
Transferred to assets held for sale		0			0			(83,470	)		(83,470	)
Foreign currency translation adjustment		(418	)		(164	)		(479	)		(1,061	)

Balance as of September 30, 2016	$	36,774		$	5,781		$	27,133		$	69,688

Balance as of September 30, 2016
Goodwill	$	72,562		$	5,781		$	97,580		$	175,923
Accumulated impairment losses		(35,788	)		0			(70,447	)		(106,235	)

	$	36,774		$	5,781		$	27,133		$	69,688

Taxation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Taxation [Abstract]

Taxation

6. Taxation

Sohu.com Inc. is subject to United States (“U.S.”) income tax, and Changyou’s income that is from a U.S. source is generally subject to U.S. income tax. The majority of the subsidiaries and VIEs of the Sohu Group are based in mainland China and are subject to income taxes in the PRC. These China-based subsidiaries and VIEs conduct substantially all of the Sohu Group’s operations, and generate most of the Sohu Group’s income or losses.

The Group did not have any significant penalties or interest associated with tax positions for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, nor did the Group have any significant unrecognized uncertain tax positions for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016.

Applicable Income Tax Rate

The PRC Corporate Income Tax Law (the “CIT Law”) applies an income tax rate of 25% to all enterprises but grants preferential tax treatment to High and New Technology Enterprises (“HNTEs”). Under this preferential tax treatment, HNTEs can enjoy an income tax rate of 15%, but need to re-apply every three years. During this three-year period, an HNTE must conduct an annual qualification self-review each year to ensure it meets the HNTE criteria and is eligible for the 15% preferential tax rate for that year. If an HNTE fails to meet the criteria for qualification as an HTNE in any year, the enterprise cannot enjoy the 15% preferential tax rate in that year, and must instead use the regular 25% CIT rate. The CIT Law and its implementing regulations provide that a “Software Enterprise” can enjoy an income tax exemption for two years beginning with its first profitable year and a 50% reduction to a rate of 12.5% for the subsequent three years. An entity that qualifies as a “Key National Software Enterprise” (“KNSE”) can enjoy a further reduced preferential income tax rate of 10%. Enterprises must perform a self-assessment each year to ensure they meet the relevant criteria for qualification as Software Enterprises and/or KNSEs and file required documents with the tax authorities before using the preferential CIT rates. These enterprises will be subject to authorities’ assessment each year after as to whether they are entitled to use the relevant preferential CIT treatments. If at any time during the preferential tax treatment years an enterprise uses the preferential CIT rates but fails to meet applicable criteria for qualification, the relevant authorities may revoke the enterprise’s Software Enterprise/KNSE status.

Principal Entities Qualified as HNTEs

As of September 30, 2016, the following principal entities of the Sohu Group were qualified as HNTEs and were entitled to an income tax rate of 15%.

For Sohu’s Business

•

Beijing Sohu Internet Information Service Co., Ltd. (“Sohu Internet”). Sohu Internet is qualified as an HNTE for 2016 and 2017, and will need to re-apply for HNTE qualification in 2018.

•

Beijing Sohu New Era Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Sohu Era”), Beijing Sohu New Media Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Sohu Media”) and Guangzhou Qianjun Network Technology Co., Ltd (“Guangzhou Qianjun”). These three companies are each qualified as HNTEs for 2016, and will need to re-apply for HNTE qualification in 2017.

For Sogou’s Business

•

Beijing Sogou Information Service Co., Ltd. (“Sogou Information”). Sogou Information is qualified as an HNTE for 2016 and 2017, and will need to re-apply for HNTE qualification in 2018.

•

Beijing Sogou Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“Sogou Technology”). Sogou Technology is qualified as an HNTE for 2016, and will need to re-apply for HNTE qualification in 2017.

For Changyou’s Business

•

Beijing AmazGame Age Internet Technology Co., Ltd. (“AmazGame”) and Beijing Gamease Age Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (“Gamease”). AmazGame and Gamease are each qualified as HNTEs for 2016, and will need to re-apply for HNTE qualification in 2017.

Principal Entities Qualified as Software Enterprises

For Sohu’s Business

•

Beijing Sohu New Momentum Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Sohu New Momentum”). In 2016, Sohu New Momentum is in the first of three years in which it is entitled to a 50% reduction to a rate of 12.5% as a Software Enterprise.

For Sogou’s Business

•

Sogou Technology recently filed documents for qualification as a KNSE for 2015 pursuant to new requirements for obtaining such qualification that were issued on May 4, 2016. As of the date of this report Sogou Technology had not received a response to the filing.

•

Beijing Sogou Network Technology Co., Ltd (“Sogou Network”) recently filed documents for qualification as a Software Enterprise for 2015 pursuant to new requirements for obtaining such qualification that were issued on May 4, 2016. As of the date of this report Sogou Network had not received a response to the filing.

For Changyou’s Business

•

AmazGame. In 2013 and 2014, AmazGame was qualified as a KNSE and enjoyed a preferential income tax rate of 10%, and recently received confirmation that it was qualified as a KNSE for 2015.

•

Beijing Changyou Gamespace Software Technology Co., Ltd. (“Gamespace”). In 2016, Gamespace is in the third of three years in which it is entitled to a 50% reduction to a rate of 12.5% as a Software Enterprise.

PRC Withholding Tax on Dividends

The CIT Law imposes a 10% withholding income tax for dividends distributed by foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC to their immediate holding companies outside Mainland China. A lower withholding tax rate will be applied if there is a tax treaty arrangement between Mainland China and the jurisdiction of the foreign holding company. A holding company in Hong Kong, for example, will be subject to a 5% withholding tax rate under an arrangement between the PRC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the “Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital” if such holding company is considered a non-PRC resident enterprise and holds at least 25% of the equity interests in the PRC foreign invested enterprise distributing the dividends, subject to approval of the PRC local tax authority. However, if the Hong Kong holding company is not considered to be the beneficial owner of such dividends under applicable PRC tax regulations, such dividend will remain subject to a withholding tax rate of 10%.

In order to fund the distribution of a dividend to shareholders of the Sohu Group’s majority-owned subsidiary Changyou, Changyou’s management determined to cause one of its PRC subsidiaries to declare and distribute a cash dividend of all of its stand-alone 2012 earnings and half of its stand-alone subsequent years’ earnings to its direct overseas parent company, Changyou.com (HK) Limited (“Changyou HK”). As of September 30, 2016, Changyou had accrued deferred tax liabilities in the amount of $26.2 million for PRC withholding tax.

With the exception of that dividend, the Sohu Group does not intend to have any of its PRC subsidiaries distribute any undistributed profits of such subsidiaries to their direct overseas parent companies, but rather intends that such profits will be permanently reinvested by such subsidiaries for their PRC operations.

PRC Value-Added Tax

On May 1, 2016, the transition from the imposition of PRC business tax (“Business Tax”) to the imposition of value-added tax (“VAT”) was expanded to all industries in China, and as a result all of the Sohu Group’s revenues have been subject to VAT since that date. To record VAT payable, the Group adopted the net presentation method, which presents the difference between the output VAT (at a rate of 6%) and the available input VAT amount (at the rate applicable to the supplier).

U.S. Corporate Income Tax

Sohu.com Inc. is a Delaware corporation that is subject to U.S. corporate income tax on its taxable income at a rate of up to 35%. To the extent that portions of its U.S. taxable income, such as Subpart F income or a dividend, are determined to be from sources outside of the U.S., subject to certain limitations, Sohu.com Inc. may be able to claim foreign tax credits to offset its U.S. income tax liabilities. Any remaining liabilities are accrued in the Company’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income and estimated tax payments are made when required by U.S. law.

Uncertain Tax Positions

The Group is subject to various taxes in different jurisdictions, primarily the U.S. and the PRC. Management reviews regularly the adequacy of the provisions for taxes as they relate to the income and transactions of the Group. In order to assess uncertain tax positions, the Sohu Group applies a more likely than not threshold and a two-step approach for tax position measurement and financial statement recognition. For the two-step approach, the first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon settlement.

Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies

7. Commitments and Contingencies

Contractual Obligations

The following table sets forth our contractual obligations as of September 30, 2016 (in thousands):


As of September 30, 2016
Purchase of content and services – video	$	196,173
Purchase of cinema advertisement slot rights		109,550
Purchase of bandwidth		57,881
Operating lease obligations		25,692
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - PC games		15,750
Purchase of content and services – others		9,884
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - mobile games		3,866
Purchase of fixed assets		2,261
Expenditures for titles in game development		1,035
Fees for operating rights for licensed games in development – mobile games		589
Others		3,819

Total	$	426,500

Litigation

The Sohu Group is a party to various litigation matters which it considers routine and incidental to its business. Management does not expect the results of any of these actions to have a material adverse effect on the Group’s business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

PRC Law and Regulations

The Chinese market in which the Sohu Group operates poses certain macro-economic and regulatory risks and uncertainties. These uncertainties extend to the ability to operate an Internet business and to conduct brand advertising, search and search-related, online game, and other services in the PRC. Though the PRC has, since 1978, implemented a wide range of market-oriented economic reforms, continued reforms and progress towards a full market-oriented economy are uncertain. In addition, the telecommunication, information, and media industries remain highly regulated. Restrictions are currently in place and are unclear with respect to which segments of these industries foreign-owned entities, like the Sohu Group, may operate. The Chinese government may issue from time to time new laws or new interpretations of existing laws to regulate areas such as telecommunication, information and media. The Sohu Group’s legal structure and scope of operations in China could be subject to restrictions, which could result in limits on its ability to conduct business in the PRC. Certain risks related to PRC law that could affect the Sohu Group’s VIE structure are discussed in Note 8 - VIEs.

Regulatory risks also encompass interpretation by PRC tax authorities of current tax law, including the applicability of certain preferential tax treatments.

The Sohu Group’s sales, purchase and expense transactions are generally denominated in RMB and a significant portion of its assets and liabilities are denominated in RMB. The RMB is not freely convertible into foreign currencies. In China, foreign exchange transactions are required by law to be transacted only by authorized financial institutions. Remittances in currencies other than RMB by its subsidiaries in China may require certain supporting documentation in order to effect the remittance.

VIEs

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

VIEs [Abstract]

VIEs

8. VIEs

Background

PRC laws and regulations prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of companies that operate Internet information and content, Internet access, online games, mobile, value added telecommunications and certain other businesses in which the Sohu Group is engaged or could be deemed to be engaged. Consequently, the Sohu Group conducts certain of its operations and businesses in the PRC through its VIEs. The Sohu Group consolidates in its consolidated financial statements all of the VIEs of which the Group is the primary beneficiary.

VIEs Consolidated within the Sohu Group

The Sohu Group adopted the guidance of accounting for VIEs, which requires VIEs to be consolidated by the primary beneficiary of the entity. Management made evaluations of the relationships between the Sohu Group and its VIEs and the economic benefit flow of contractual arrangements with the VIEs. In connection with such evaluation, management also took into account the fact that, as a result of contractual arrangements with its consolidated VIEs, the Sohu Group controls the shareholders’ voting interests in those VIEs. As a result of such evaluation, the management concluded that the Sohu Group is the primary beneficiary of the VIEs which the Group consolidates.

All of the consolidated VIEs are incorporated and operated in the PRC, and the Group’s principal VIEs are directly or indirectly owned by Dr. Charles Zhang, the Sohu Group’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, or other executive officers and employees of the Sohu Group identified below. Capital for the consolidated VIEs was funded by the Sohu Group through loans provided to Dr. Charles Zhang and other executive officers and employees, and was initially recorded as loans to related parties. These loans are eliminated for accounting purposes against the capital of the VIEs upon consolidation.

Under contractual agreements with the Sohu Group, Dr. Charles Zhang and those other executive officers and employees of the Sohu Group who are shareholders of the consolidated VIEs are required to transfer their ownership in these entities to the Group, if permitted by PRC laws and regulations, or, if not so permitted, to designees of the Group at any time as requested by the Group to repay the loans outstanding. All voting rights of the consolidated VIEs are assigned to the Sohu Group, and the Group has the right to designate all directors and senior management personnel of the consolidated VIEs, and also has the obligation to absorb losses of the consolidated VIEs. Dr. Charles Zhang and those other executive officers and employees of the Sohu Group who are shareholders of the consolidated VIEs have pledged their shares in the consolidated VIEs as collateral for the loans. As of September 30, 2016, the aggregate amount of these loans was $9.3 million.

Under its contractual arrangements with the consolidated VIEs, the Sohu Group has the power to direct activities of the VIEs, and can have assets transferred freely out of the VIEs without any restrictions. Therefore, the Group considers that there is no asset of a consolidated VIE that can be used only to settle obligations of the VIEs, except for registered capital and PRC statutory reserves of the VIEs. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital and PRC statutory reserves of the consolidated VIEs totaled $60.2 million. As all of the consolidated VIEs are incorporated as limited liability companies under the PRC Company Law, creditors of the consolidated VIEs do not have recourse to the general credit of the Sohu Group for any of the liabilities of the consolidated VIEs. Currently there is no contractual arrangement that could require the Sohu Group to provide additional financial support to the consolidated VIEs. As the Sohu Group is conducting certain business in the PRC mainly through the consolidated VIEs, the Group may provide such support on a discretionary basis in the future, which could expose the Group to a loss.

The Sohu Group classified the consolidated VIEs within the Sohu Group as principal VIEs or immaterial VIEs based on certain criteria, such as the VIEs’ total assets or revenues. The following is a summary of the principal VIEs within the Sohu Group:

Basic Information for Principal VIEs and Subsidiaries of Principal VIEs

For Sohu’s Business

•

High Century

Beijing Century High Tech Investment Co., Ltd. (“High Century”) was incorporated in 2001. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of High Century was $4.6 million and Dr. Charles Zhang and Wei Li held 80% and 20% interests, respectively, in this entity.

•

Heng Da Yi Tong

Beijing Heng Da Yi Tong Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Heng Da Yi Tong”) was incorporated in 2002. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Heng Da Yi Tong was $1.2 million and Dr. Charles Zhang and Wei Li held 80% and 20% interests, respectively, in this entity.

•

Sohu Internet

Sohu Internet was incorporated in 2003. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Sohu Internet was $1.6 million and High Century held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Donglin

Beijing Sohu Donglin Advertising Co., Ltd. (“Donglin”) was incorporated in 2010. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Donglin was $1.5 million and Sohu Internet held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Tianjin Jinhu

Tianjin Jinhu Culture Development Co., Ltd. (“Tianjin Jinhu”) was incorporated in 2011. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Tianjin Jinhu was $0.5 million and Ye Deng and Xuemei Zhang each held a 50% interest in this entity. In October, 2016, Ye Deng transferred its 50% equity interest in Tianjin Jinhu to Xiufeng Deng. As of the date of this report, Xiufeng Deng and Xuemei Zhang each held a 50% interest in this entity.

•

Guangzhou Qianjun

Guangzhou Qianjun was acquired in November 2014. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Guangzhou Qianjun was $3.3 million and Tianjin Jinhu held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Focus Interactive

Beijing Focus Interactive Information Service Co., Ltd. (“Focus Interactive”) was incorporated in July 2014. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Focus Interactive was $1.6 million and Heng Da Yi Tong held 100% of the equity interests in this entity.

For Sogou’s Business

•

Sogou Information

Sogou Information was incorporated in 2005. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Sogou Information was $2.5 million and Xiaochuan Wang, Sogou’s Chief Executive Officer, High Century and Tencent held 10%, 45% and 45% interests, respectively, in this entity.

For Changyou’s Business

•

Gamease

Gamease was incorporated in 2007. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Gamease was $1.3 million and High Century held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Guanyou Gamespace

Beijing Guanyou Gamespace Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (“Guanyou Gamespace”) was incorporated in 2010. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Guanyou Gamespace was $1.5 million and Beijing Changyou Star Digital Technology Co., Ltd (“Changyou Star”) held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Shanghai ICE

Shanghai ICE Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Shanghai ICE”) was acquired by Changyou in 2010. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Shanghai ICE was $1.2 million and Gamease held a 100% interest in this entity.

•

Wuhan Baina Information

Baina (Wuhan) Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Wuhan Baina Information”) was acquired by Gamease in July 2014. As of September 30, 2016, the registered capital of Wuhan Baina Information was $3.0 million and Changyou Star and Yongzhi Yang held 60% and 40% interests, respectively, in this entity.

Financial Information

The following financial information of the Sohu Group’s consolidated VIEs (including subsidiaries of VIEs) is included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements (in thousands):


	As of
	December 31, 2015		September 30, 2016
ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	131,270	$	141,830
Accounts receivable, net		135,925		92,071
Prepaid and other current assets		101,951		93,237
Assets held for sale		0		12,062
Intercompany receivables due from the Company’s subsidiaries		140,396		221,842

Total current assets		509,542		561,042

Long-term investments, net		15,960		15,189
Fixed assets, net		7,362		5,176
Intangible assets, net		18,266		14,977
Goodwill		36,351		35,838
Other non-current assets		12,057		6,499

Total assets	$	599,538	$	638,721

LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable	$	23,757	$	11,505
Accrued liabilities		79,012		84,379
Receipts in advance and deferred revenue		55,319		48,764
Liabilities held for sale		0		2,452
Other current liabilities		141,247		157,346
Intercompany payables due to the Company’s subsidiaries		175,178		182,537

Total current liabilities		474,513		486,983

Long-term accounts payable		2,858		0
Long-term taxes payable		0		13,986
Intercompany payables due to the Company’s subsidiaries		21,717		20,420

Total liabilities	$	499,088	$	521,389


	Three months ended September 30,					Nine months ended September 30,
	2015			2016		2015			2016
Net revenue	$	309,866		$	228,599	$	926,460		$	675,281
Net income/(loss)	$	(45,863	)	$	5,338	$	(63,402	)	$	20,854


	Nine months ended September 30,
	2015			2016
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	17,450		$	20,306
Net cash provided by /(used in) investing activities		(11,182	)		1,061
Net cash provided by financing activities	$	2,286		$	0

Summary of Significant Agreements Currently in Effect

Agreements Between Subsidiaries, Consolidated VIEs and Nominee Shareholders

Loan and share pledge agreement between Sohu Media and the shareholders of High Century: The agreement provides for loans to the shareholders of High Century for them to make contributions to the registered capital of High Century in exchange for the equity interests in High Century, and the shareholders pledge those equity interests to Sohu Media as security for the loans. The agreement includes powers of attorney that give Sohu Media the power to appoint nominees to act on behalf of the shareholders of High Century in connection with all actions to be taken by High Century. Pursuant to the agreement, the shareholders executed in blank transfers of their equity interests in High Century, which are held by the Sohu Group’s legal department and may be completed and effected at Sohu Media’s election.

Loan and share pledge agreement between Sohu Focus (HK) Limited (“Focus HK”) and the shareholders of Heng Da Yi Tong: The agreement provides for loans to the shareholders of Heng Da Yi Tong for them to make contributions to the registered capital of Heng Da Yi Tong in exchange for the equity interests in Heng Da Yi Tong, and the shareholders pledge those equity interests to Focus HK as security for the loans. The agreement includes powers of attorney that give Focus HK the power to appoint nominees to act on behalf of the shareholders of Heng Da Yi Tong in connection with all actions to be taken by Heng Da Yi Tong. Pursuant to the agreement, the shareholders executed in blank transfers of their equity interests in Heng Da Yi Tong, which are held by the Sohu Group’s legal department and may be completed and effected at Focus HK’s election.

Loan and share pledge agreements between Sogou Technology and the shareholders of Sogou Information. The loan agreement provides for a loan to Xiaochuan Wang, the individual shareholder of Sogou Information, to be used by him to make contributions to the registered capital of Sogou Information in exchange for his equity interest in Sogou Information. The loan is interest free-and is repayable on demand, but the shareholder may repay the loan only by transferring to Sogou Technology his equity interest in Sogou Information. Under the pledge agreement, all of the shareholders of Sogou Information pledge their equity interests to Sogou Technology to secure the performance of their obligations under the various VIE-related agreements. If any shareholder of Sogou Information breaches any of his or its obligations under any VIE-related agreements, Sogou Technology is entitled to exercise its right as the beneficiary under the share pledge agreement. The share pledge agreement terminates only after all of the obligations of the shareholders under the various VIE-related agreements are no longer in effect.

Exclusive equity interest purchase right agreements between Sogou Technology, Sogou Information and the shareholders of Sogou Information. Pursuant to these agreements, Sogou Technology and any third party designated by it have the right, exercisable at any time when it becomes legal to do so under PRC law, to purchase from the shareholders of Sogou Information all or any part of their equity interests at the lowest purchase price permissible under PRC law.

Business operation agreement among Sogou Technology, Sogou Information and the shareholders of Sogou Information. The agreement sets forth the right of Sogou Technology to control the actions of the shareholders of Sogou Information. The agreement has a term of 10 years, renewable at the request of Sogou Technology.

Powers of Attorney executed by the shareholders of Sogou Information in favor of Sogou Technology with a term of 10 years, extendable at the request of Sogou Technology. These powers of attorney give Sogou Technology the right to appoint nominees to act on behalf of each of the three Sogou Information shareholders in connection with all actions to be taken by Sogou Information.

Loan agreements and equity pledge agreements between Fox Information Technology (Tianjin) Limited (“Video Tianjin”) and the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu. The loan agreements provide for loans to the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu for them to make contributions to the registered capital of Tianjin Jinhu in exchange for the equity interests in Tianjin Jinhu. Under the equity pledge agreements, the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu pledge to Video Tianjin their equity interests in Tianjin Jinhu to secure the performance of their obligations under the loan agreements and Tianjin Jinhu’s obligations to Video Tianjin under their business agreements. The loans are interest free and are repayable on demand, but the shareholders can only repay the loans by transferring to Video Tianjin their equity interests in Tianjin Jinhu.

Equity interest purchase right agreements between Video Tianjin, Tianjin Jinhu and the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu. Pursuant to these agreements, Video Tianjin and any third party designated by it have the right, exercisable at any time when it becomes legal to do so under PRC law, to purchase from the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu all or any part of their equity interests at the lowest purchase price permissible under PRC law.

Business operation agreement among Video Tianjin, Tianjin Jinhu and the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu. The agreement sets forth the right of Video Tianjin to control the actions of the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu. The agreement has a term of 10 years, renewable at the request of Video Tianjin.

Powers of Attorney executed by the shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu in favor of Video Tianjin with a term of 10 years, extendable at the request of Video Tianjin. These powers of attorney give Video Tianjin the right to appoint nominees to act on behalf of each of the Tianjin Jinhu shareholders in connection with all actions to be taken by Tianjin Jinhu.

Loan agreements and equity pledge agreements between AmazGame and the sole shareholder of Gamease and between Gamespace and the sole shareholder of Guanyou Gamespace. The loan agreements provide for loans to the respective shareholders of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace for the shareholders to make contributions to the registered capital of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace in exchange for 100% of the equity interests in Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace. The loans are interest free and are repayable on demand, but the shareholders can only repay the loans by transferring to AmazGame and Gamespace, as the case may be, their equity interests in Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace. Under the equity pledge agreements, the respective shareholders of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace pledge to AmazGame and Gamespace, their equity interests in Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace to secure the performance of their obligations under the loan agreements and Gamease’s and Guanyou Gamespace’s obligations to AmazGame and Gamespace under the various VIE-related agreements. If the shareholders breach their obligations under any VIE-related agreements (Gamease’s or Guanyou Gamespace’s breach of any of its obligations under the various applicable VIE-related agreements will be treated as its shareholder’s breach of its obligations), including the equity pledge agreements, AmazGame and Gamespace are entitled to exercise their rights as the beneficiaries under the applicable equity pledge agreements, including all rights the respective shareholders have as shareholders of Gamease or Guanyou Gamespace.

Equity interest purchase right agreements among AmazGame, Gamease and the sole shareholder of Gamease and among Gamespace, Guanyou Gamespace and the sole shareholder of Guanyou Gamespace. Pursuant to these agreements, AmazGame and Gamespace have the right, exercisable at any time if and when it is legal to do so under PRC law, to purchase from the respective shareholders of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace all or any part of their equity interests in Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace at a purchase price equal to their initial contributions to the registered capital of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace.

Powers of attorney executed by the sole shareholder of Gamease in favor of AmazGame and by the sole shareholder of Guanyou Gamespace in favor of Gamespace, with a term of 10 years. These powers of attorney give the respective boards of directors of AmazGame and Gamespace the exclusive right to appoint nominees to act on behalf of their respective shareholders in connection with all actions to be taken by Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace.

Business operation agreements among AmazGame, Gamease and the sole shareholder of Gamease and among Gamespace, Guanyou Gamespace and the sole shareholder of Guanyou Gamespace. These agreements set forth the right of AmazGame and Gamespace to control the actions of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace, as the case may be, and the respective shareholders of Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace. Each agreement has a term of 10 years.

Share pledge agreement among Baina Zhiyuan (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Baina Technology”), Wuhan Baina Information and the shareholders of Wuhan Baina Information, which are Gamease and Yongzhi Yang, pursuant to which the shareholders pledged to Beijing Baina Technology their equity interests in Wuhan Baina Information to secure the performance of their obligations and Wuhan Baina Information’s obligations under the various VIE-related agreements. If the shareholders breach their obligations under any VIE-related agreements (Wuhan Baina Information’s breach of any of its obligations under the various VIE-related agreements will be treated as the shareholders’ breach of their obligations), including the share pledge agreement, Beijing Baina Technology is entitled to exercise its rights as the beneficiary under the share pledge agreement, including all rights of the shareholders as shareholders of Wuhan Baina Information.

Call option agreement among Beijing Baina Technology, Wuhan Baina Information, Changyou Star and Yongzhi Yang. This agreement provides to Beijing Baina Technology and any third party designated by Beijing Baina Technology the right, exercisable at any time during the term of the agreement, if and when it is legal to do so under PRC law, to purchase from Changyou Star and Yongzhi Yang all or any part of their shares in Wuhan Baina Information or to purchase from Wuhan Baina Information all or part of its assets or business at the lower of RMB1.00 (approximately $0.15) or the lowest purchase price permissible under PRC law.

Business Operation Agreement among Beijing Baina Technology, Wuhan Baina Information, Changyou Star and Yongzhi Yang. This agreement grants Beijing Baina Technology effective control of Wuhan Baina Information.

Business Arrangements Between Subsidiaries and Consolidated VIEs

Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement between Sohu Era and Sohu Internet. Pursuant to this agreement Sohu Era has the exclusive right to provide technical consultation and other related services to Sohu Internet, in exchange for a percentage of the gross revenue of Sohu Internet. The agreement has an initial term of two years, and is renewable at the request of Sohu Era.

Business cooperation agreement between Sogou Technology and Sogou Information. Pursuant to this agreement, Sogou Information provides Internet information services to Sogou Technology’s customers in exchange for a fee payable to Sogou Information. The agreement has a term of 10 years, and is renewable at the request of Sogou Technology.

Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement between Sogou Technology and Sogou Information. Pursuant to this agreement Sogou Technology has the exclusive right to provide technical consultation and other related services to Sogou Information in exchange for a fee. The agreement has a term of 10 years and is renewable at the request of Sogou Technology.

Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement between Video Tianjin and Tianjin Jinhu. Pursuant to this agreement Video Tianjin has the exclusive right to provide technical consultation and other related services to Tianjin Jinhu in exchange for a fee. The agreement has a term of 10 years and is renewable at the request of Video Tianjin.

Technology support and utilization agreements between AmazGame and Gamease and between Gamespace and Guanyou Gamespace. Pursuant to these agreements, AmazGame and Gamespace have the exclusive right to provide certain product development and application services and technology support to Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace, respectively, for a fee equal to a predetermined percentage, subject to adjustment by AmazGame or Gamespace at any time, of Gamease’s and Guanyou Gamespace’s respective revenues. Each agreement terminates only when AmazGame or Gamespace is dissolved.

Services and maintenance agreements between AmazGame and Gamease between Gamespace and Guanyou Gamespace. Pursuant to these agreements, AmazGame and Gamespace, respectively, provide marketing, staffing, business operation and maintenance services to Gamease and Guanyou Gamespace, respectively, in exchange for a fee equal to the cost of providing such services plus a predetermined margin. Each agreement terminates only when AmazGame or Gamespace, as the case may be, is dissolved.

Exclusive Services agreement between Beijing Baina Technology and Wuhan Baina Information. Beijing Baina Technology agrees to provide Wuhan Baina Information with technical services, business consulting, capital equipment lease, market consulting, integration of systems, research and development of products and maintenance of systems. Service fees are to be determined with reference to the specific services provided, based on a transfer pricing analysis.

Certain of the contractual arrangements described above between the VIEs and the related wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Sohu Group are silent regarding renewals. However, because the VIEs are controlled by the Sohu Group through powers of attorney granted to the Sohu Group by the shareholders of the VIEs, the contractual arrangements can be, and are expected to be, renewed at the subsidiaries’ election.

VIE-Related Risks

It is possible that the Sohu Group’s operation of certain of its operations and businesses through VIEs could be found by PRC authorities to be in violation of PRC law and regulations prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership of companies that engage in such operations and businesses. While the Sohu Group’s management considers the possibility of such a finding by PRC regulatory authorities under current law and regulations to be remote, on January 19, 2015, the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, or (the “MOFCOM”) released on its Website for public comment a proposed PRC law (the “Draft FIE Law”) that appears to include VIEs within the scope of entities that could be considered to be foreign invested enterprises (or “FIEs”) that would be subject to restrictions under existing PRC law on foreign investment in certain categories of industry. Specifically, the Draft FIE Law introduces the concept of “actual control” for determining whether an entity is considered to be an FIE. In addition to control through direct or indirect ownership or equity, the Draft FIE Law includes control through contractual arrangements within the definition of “actual control.” If the Draft FIE Law is passed by the People’s Congress of the PRC and goes into effect in its current form, these provisions regarding control through contractual arrangements could be construed to reach the Sohu Group’s VIE arrangements, and as a result the Sohu Group’s VIEs could become explicitly subject to the current restrictions on foreign investment in certain categories of industry. The Draft FIE Law includes provisions that would exempt from the definition of foreign invested enterprises entities where the ultimate controlling shareholders are either entities organized under PRC law or individuals who are PRC citizens. The Draft FIE Law is silent as to what type of enforcement action might be taken against existing VIEs that operate in restricted or prohibited industries and are not controlled by entities organized under PRC law or individuals who are PRC citizens. If a finding were made by PRC authorities, under existing law and regulations or under the Draft FIE Law if it becomes effective, that the Sohu Group’s operation of certain of its operations and businesses through VIEs is prohibited, regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over the licensing and operation of such operations and businesses would have broad discretion in dealing with such a violation, including levying fines, confiscating the Sohu Group’s income, revoking the business or operating licenses of the affected businesses, requiring the Sohu Group to restructure its ownership structure or operations, or requiring the Sohu Group to discontinue all or any portion of its operations. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to the Sohu Group’s business operations, and have a severe adverse impact on the Sohu Group’s cash flows, financial position and operating performance.

In addition, it is possible that the contracts among the Sohu Group, the Sohu Group’s VIEs and shareholders of its VIEs would not be enforceable in China if PRC government authorities or courts were to find that such contracts contravene PRC law and regulations or are otherwise not enforceable for public policy reasons. In the event that the Sohu Group was unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, the Sohu Group would not be able to exert effective control over the affected VIEs. Consequently, such VIE’s results of operations, assets and liabilities would not be included in the Sohu Group’s consolidated financial statements. If such were the case, the Sohu Group’s cash flows, financial position and operating performance would be severely adversely affected. The Sohu Group’s contractual arrangements with respect to its consolidated VIEs are in place. The Sohu Group’s management believes that such contracts are enforceable, and considers the possibility remote that PRC regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over the Sohu Group’s operations and contractual relationships would find the contracts to be unenforceable.

The Sohu Group’s operations and businesses rely on the operations and businesses of its VIEs, which hold certain recognized and unrecognized revenue-producing assets. The recognized revenue-producing assets include goodwill and intangible assets acquired through business acquisitions. Goodwill primarily represents the expected synergies from combining an acquired business with the Sohu Group. Intangible assets acquired through business acquisitions mainly consist of customer relationships, non-compete agreements, user bases, copyrights, trademarks and developed technologies. Unrecognized revenue-producing assets mainly consist of licenses and intellectual property. Licenses include operations licenses, such as Internet information service licenses and licenses for providing content. Intellectual property developed by the Sohu Group mainly consists of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and domain names. The Sohu Group’s operations and businesses may be adversely impacted if the Sohu Group loses the ability to use and enjoy assets held by these VIEs.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity [Abstract]

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity

9. Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders’ Equity

Takeover Defense

Sohu intends to adopt appropriate defensive measures in the future on a case by case basis as and to the extent that Sohu’s Board of Directors determines that such measures are necessary or advisable to protect Sohu stockholder value in the face of any coercive takeover threats or to prevent an acquirer from gaining control of Sohu without offering fair and adequate price and terms.

Treasury Stock

Treasury stock consists of shares repurchased by Sohu.com Inc. that are no longer outstanding and are held by Sohu.com Inc. Treasury stock is accounted for under the cost method. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, the Company did not repurchase any shares of its common stock.

Stock Incentive Plan

Sohu (excluding Sohu Video), Sogou, Changyou, and Sohu Video have incentive plans for the granting of share-based awards, including options and restricted share units, to their directors, management and other key employees.

1) Sohu.com Inc. Share-based Awards

Sohu’s 2000 Stock Incentive Plan

Sohu’s 2000 Stock Incentive Plan (the “Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan”) provided for the issuance of up to 9,500,000 shares of common stock, including those issued pursuant to the exercise of stock options and upon vesting and settlement of restricted share units. Most of these awards vest over a period of four years. The maximum term of any issued stock right under the Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan expired on January 24, 2010. A new plan (the “Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan”) was adopted by Sohu’s shareholders on July 2, 2010.

There has been no share-based compensation expense recognized under the Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan since 2015, as the requisite service periods for all these awards had been completed by the end of 2014. No cash has been received under the Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan since 2016, as all of these awards had been exercised by the end of 2015.

Sohu’s 2010 Stock Incentive Plan

On July 2, 2010, the Company’s shareholders adopted the Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, which provides for the issuance of up to 1,500,000 shares of common stock, including stock issued pursuant to the vesting and settlement of restricted stock units and pursuant to the exercise of stock options. The maximum term of any stock right granted under the Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan will expire on July 1, 2020. As of September 30, 2016, 360,930 shares were available for grant under the Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan.

i) Summary of stock option activity

On February 7, 2015 and May 1, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors approved contractual grants to members of the Company’s management and key employees of options for the purchase of an aggregate of 1,068,000 and 13,000 shares of common stock, respectively, with nominal exercise prices of $0.001. These stock options vest and become exercisable in four equal installments over a period of four years, with each installment vesting upon the satisfaction of a service period requirement and certain subjective performance targets. These stock options are substantially similar to restricted stock units except for the nominal exercise price, which would be zero for restricted stock units.

Under ASC 718-10-25 and ASC 718-10-55, no grant date can be established for these stock options until a mutual understanding is reached between the Company and the recipients clarifying the subjective performance requirements. If the service inception date preceded the grant date, compensation expense should be accrued beginning on the service inception date, and re-measured on each subsequent reporting date before the grant date is established, based on the then-current fair value of the awards. To determine the fair value of these stock options, the public market price of the underlying shares at each reporting date is used and a binomial valuation model is applied.

On February 7, 2016, 253,250 of these stock options had been granted and had become vested, as a mutual understanding of the subjective performance targets had been reached between the Company and the recipients, the targets had been satisfied, and the service period requirements had been fulfilled. The cumulative share-based compensation expense for these granted stock options has been adjusted and fixed based on the fair value at the grant date of $10.8 million.

A summary of stock option activity under the Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average		Aggregate
	Of			Average		Remaining		Intrinsic
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual		Value (1)
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)		(in thousands)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		0		$				$
Granted		253			0.001
Exercised		(56	)		0.001
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717

Vested at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717

Note (1): The aggregated intrinsic value in the preceding table represents the difference between Sohu’s closing stock price of $44.25 on September 30, 2016 and the nominal exercise prices of the stock options.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for these stock options was $5.3 million and $3.6 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for these Sohu stock options was $1.7 million and $ 13.3 million, respectively.

ii) Summary of restricted share unit activity

A summary of restricted stock unit activity under the Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


	Number of			Weighted-Average
	Units			Grant-Date
Restricted Stock Units	(in thousands)			Fair Value
Unvested at January 1, 2016		32		$	70.24
Granted		11			51.00
Vested		(12	)		56.83
Forfeited		(9	)		63.45

Unvested at September 30, 2016		22			70.61

Expected to vest after September 30, 2016		17			68.96

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for restricted stock units was $0.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for restricted stock units was $0.6 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

As of September 30, 2016, there was $0.7 million unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock units. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.6 years. The total fair value on their respective vesting dates of restricted stock units that vested during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively. The total fair value on their respective vesting dates of restricted stock units that vested during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 was $0.3 million and $0.7 million, respectively.

2) Sogou Inc. Share-based Awards

Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan

Sogou adopted a share incentive plan on October 20, 2010. The number of Sogou ordinary shares issuable under the plan was 41,500,000 after an amendment that was effective August 22, 2014 (as amended, the “Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan”). Awards of share rights may be granted under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan to management and employees of Sogou and of any present or future parents or subsidiaries or VIEs of Sogou. The maximum term of any share right granted under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan will expire on October 19, 2020. As of September 30, 2016, Sogou had contractually granted options for the purchase of 38,441,000 Sogou ordinary shares under the 2010 Sogou Share Incentive Plan.

Of the contractually granted Sogou share options for the purchase of 38,441,000 Sogou ordinary shares, options for the purchase of 31,241,000 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable upon a service period requirement being met, as well as Sogou’s achievement of performance targets for the corresponding period. Subject to achievement of the applicable performance targets, of these Sogou share options for the purchase of 31,241,000 Sogou ordinary shares, options for the purchase of 30,021,750 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable in four equal installments and options for the purchase of 1,219,250 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable in two to four installments over varying periods. Of these Sogou share options for the purchase of 31,241,000 Sogou ordinary shares, the terms of options for the purchase of 980,000 Sogou ordinary shares, which had previously included as vesting conditions a service period requirement and Sogou’s completion of an IPO of its ordinary shares (“Sogou’s IPO”), were amended in the first quarter of 2016 to remove as a condition of vesting completion of Sogou’s IPO and add as a condition of vesting achievement of performance targets. For purposes of recognition of share-based compensation expense, each installment is considered to be granted as of the date that the performance target has been set. As of September 30, 2016, Sogou had granted options for the purchase of 25,337,008 Sogou ordinary shares under the 2010 Sogou Share Incentive Plan. As of September 30, 2016, options for the purchase of 22,923,259 Sogou ordinary shares had become vested and exercisable because both the service period and the performance requirements had been met, and of such vested options, options for the purchase of 22,918,596 Sogou ordinary shares had been exercised.

Of the contractually granted Sogou share options, options for the purchase of 7,200,000 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable in five equal installments, with (i) the first installment vesting upon Sogou’s IPO and the expiration of all underwriters’ lockup periods applicable to Sogou’s IPO, and (ii) each of the four subsequent installments vesting on the first, second, third and fourth anniversary dates, respectively, of the closing of Sogou’s IPO. The completion of an IPO is considered to be a performance condition of the awards. An IPO is not considered to be probable until it is completed. Under ASC 718, compensation cost should be accrued if it is probable that the performance condition will be achieved and should not be accrued if it is not probable that the performance condition will be achieved. As a result, no compensation expense will be recognized related to these Sogou share options until the completion of an IPO, and hence no share-based compensation expense was recognized for the three months ended September 30, 2016 for the options for the purchase of 7,200,000 Sogou ordinary shares that are subject to vesting upon completion of Sogou’s IPO.

As of September 30, 2016, for purposes of recognition of share-based compensation expense, Sogou had granted Sogou share options for the purchase of 32,537,008 Sogou ordinary shares, of which options for the purchase of 9,618,412 Sogou ordinary shares were outstanding. A summary of Sogou share option activity under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average
	Of			Average		Remaining
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		12,209		$	0.369
Granted		2,337			0.001
Exercised		(3,800	)		0.001
Forfeited or expired		(1,128	)		0.001

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		9,618			0.468		6.58

Vested at September 30, 2016 and expected to vest thereafter		2,360

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		5

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for Sogou share options under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan was $0.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for Sogou share options under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan was negative $0.4 million and $3.5 million, respectively.

As of September 30, 2016, there was $7.1 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to the unvested Sogou share options. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.34 years.

The fair value of the ordinary shares of Sogou was assessed using the income approach /discounted cash flow method, with a discount for lack of marketability, given that the shares underlying the awards were not publicly traded at the time of grant, and was determined with the assistance of a qualified professional appraiser using management’s estimates and assumptions. This assessment required complex and subjective judgments regarding Sogou’s projected financial and operating results, its unique business risks, the liquidity of its ordinary shares and its operating history and prospects at the time the grants were made.

The fair value of the Sogou share options granted to Sogou management and key employees was estimated on the date of grant using the Binomial option - pricing model (the “BP Model”) with the following assumptions used:


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate			1.90%~2.77%
Exercise multiple			2~3
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)			0%~12%
Weighted average expected option life			7
Volatility rate			43%~50%
Dividend yield			0%
Fair value			3.18~3.93

Sogou estimated the risk-free rate based on the market yields of U.S. Treasury securities with an estimated country-risk differential as of the valuation date. An exercise multiple was estimated as the ratio of the fair value of the Sogou ordinary shares over the exercise price as of the time the Sogou share option is exercised, based on consideration of research studies regarding exercise patterns based on historical statistical data. In Sogou’s valuation analysis, a multiple of two was applied for employees and a multiple of three was applied for management. Sogou estimated the forfeiture rate to be 0% or 1% for the Sogou share options granted to Sogou management as of September 30, 2016 and 12% for the Sogou share options granted to Sogou employees as of September 30, 2016. The life of the Sogou share options is the contract life of the option. Based on the option agreement, the contract life of the Sogou share options is 10 years. As there is no trading market for Sogou’s ordinary shares, the expected volatility at the valuation date was estimated based on the historical volatility of comparable companies for the period before the grant date with length commensurate with the expected term of the Sogou share options. Sogou has no history or expectation of paying dividends on its ordinary shares. Accordingly, the dividend yield was estimated to be 0%.

Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement

Under an arrangement providing for Sogou share-based awards to be available for grants to members of Sohu’s Board of Directors, management and other key employees (“Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement”), which was approved by the boards of directors of Sohu and Sogou in March 2011, Sohu has the right to provide to members of Sohu’ Board of Directors, management and other key employees the opportunity to purchase from Sohu up to 12,000,000 ordinary shares of Sogou at a fixed exercise price of $0.625 or $0.001 per share. Of these 12,000,000 ordinary shares, 8,800,000 are Sogou ordinary shares previously held by Sohu and 3,200,000 are Sogou ordinary shares that were newly-issued on April 14, 2011 by Sogou to Sohu at a price of $0.625 per share, or a total of $2.0 million. As of September 30, 2016, Sohu had contractually granted options for the purchase of 10,705,000 Sogou ordinary shares to members of Sohu’ Board of Directors, management and other key employees under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement.

Of the contractually granted Sogou share options for the purchase of 10,705,000 Sogou ordinary shares, options for the purchase of 8,290,000 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable in four equal installments, with each installment vesting upon a service period requirement for Sohu’s management and key employees being met, as well as Sogou’s achievement of performance targets for the corresponding period. The performance target for each installment is set at the beginning of each vesting period. Accordingly, for purposes of recognition of share-based compensation expense, each installment is considered to be granted as of that date. As of September 30, 2016, Sohu had granted Sogou share options for the purchase of 8,290,000 Sogou ordinary shares under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement. As of September 30, 2016, options for the purchase of 8,232,500 Sogou ordinary shares had become vested and exercisable because both the service period and the performance requirements had been met, and vested options for the purchase of 7,512,500 Sogou ordinary shares had been exercised.

During 2015, options for the purchase of 15,000 Sogou ordinary shares were granted to members of Sohu’s Board of Directors. These Sogou share options vested and became exercisable as of December 31, 2015, as the service period requirement for vesting was met.

The remaining options for the purchase of 2,400,000 Sogou ordinary shares vest and become exercisable in five equal installments, with (i) the first installment vesting upon Sogou’s IPO and the expiration of all underwriters’ lockup periods applicable to the IPO, and (ii) each of the four subsequent installments vesting on the first, second, third and fourth anniversary dates, respectively, of the closing of Sogou’s IPO. All installments of the Sogou share options for the purchase of 2,400,000 Sogou ordinary shares that are subject to vesting upon the completion of Sogou’s IPO were considered granted upon the issuance of the options. The completion of a firm commitment IPO is considered to be a performance condition of the awards. An IPO event is not considered to be probable until it is completed. Under ASC 718, compensation cost should be accrued if it is probable that the performance condition will be achieved and should not be accrued if it is not probable that the performance condition will be achieved. As a result, no compensation expense will be recognized related to these Sogou share options until the completion of an IPO, and hence no share-based compensation expense was recognized for the three months ended September 30, 2016 for these options for the purchase of 2,400,000 Sogou ordinary shares.

As of September 30, 2016, for purposes of recognition of share-based compensation expense, Sohu had granted options for the purchase of 10,705,000 Sogou ordinary shares, of which options for the purchase of 3,189,500 Sogou ordinary shares were outstanding. A summary of Sogou share option activity under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average
	Of			Average		Remaining
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		3,664		$	0.623
Granted		58			0.625
Exercised		(532	)		0.625
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		3,190			0.623		6.03

Vested at September 30, 2016 and expected to vest thereafter		790

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		732

For the three months and the nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for Sogou share options under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement was $3,094 and $0.3 million, respectively. For the three months and the nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for Sogou share options under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement was nil and $0.7 million, respectively.

As of September 30, 2016, there was $0.1 million unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested Sogou share options. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.25 years.

The method used to determine the fair value of Sogou share options granted to members of Sohu’s Board of Directors, management and other employees was the same as the method used for the Sogou share options granted to Sogou’s management and key employees as described above, except for the assumptions used in the BP Model as presented below:


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate			2.01%~2.15%
Exercise multiple			2~3
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)			0%
Weighted average expected option life			6
Volatility rate			43%~47%
Dividend yield			0%
Fair value			2.56~3.31

Option Modification

In the first and second quarter of 2013, a portion of the Sogou share options granted under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan and the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement were exercised early, and the Sogou ordinary shares issued upon exercise were transferred to trusts with the original option grantees as beneficiaries. The trusts will distribute the Sogou ordinary shares to those beneficiaries in installments based on the vesting requirements under the option agreements. Although these trust arrangements caused a modification of the terms of these Sogou share options, the modification was not considered substantive. Accordingly, no incremental fair value related to these Sogou ordinary shares resulted from the modification, and the remaining share-based compensation expense for these Sogou ordinary shares will continue to be recognized over the original remaining vesting period. As of September 30, 2016, options for the purchase of 11,370,000 Sogou ordinary shares granted under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan had been exercised early but had not been distributed to the beneficiaries of the trusts. All of the early-exercised Sogou ordinary shares that were distributed to those beneficiaries by the trusts in accordance with the vesting requirements under the option agreements have been included in the disclosures under the heading “Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan” above.

Tencent Share-based Awards Granted to Employees Who Transferred to Sogou with Soso Search-related Businesses

Certain persons who became Sogou employees when Tencent’s Soso search-related businesses were transferred to Sogou on September 16, 2013 had been granted restricted share units under Tencent’s share award arrangements prior to the transfer of the businesses to Sogou. These Tencent restricted share units will continue to vest under the original Tencent share award arrangements provided the transferred employees continue to be employed by Sogou during the requisite service period. After the transfer of the Soso search-related businesses to Sogou, Sogou applied the guidance in ASC 505-50 to measure the related compensation expense, based on the then-current fair value at each reporting date, which is deemed to have been incurred by Tencent as an investor on Sogou’s behalf. To determine the then-current fair value of the Tencent restricted share units granted to these employees, the public market price of the underlying shares at each reporting date was applied. Because Sogou is not required to reimburse Tencent for such share-based compensation expense, the related amount was recorded by Sogou as a capital contribution from Tencent.

As of September 30, 2016, unvested Tencent restricted share unit awards held by these employees provided for the issuance of up to 53,100 ordinary shares of Tencent, taking into consideration a five-for-one split of Tencent’s shares that became effective in May 2014. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, share-based compensation expense of negative $38,458 and $0.8 million, respectively, related to these Tencent restricted share units was recognized in the Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income. The negative $38,458 resulted from Sogou’s true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited Tencent restricted share units. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, share-based compensation expense of negative $0.9 million and $1.5 million, respectively, related to these Tencent restricted share units was recognized in the Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income. The negative $0.9 million resulted from Sogou’s true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited Tencent restricted share units and re-measurement of share-based compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on September 30, 2015. As of September 30, 2016, there was $0.3 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to these unvested Tencent restricted share units. This amount is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.43 years.

3) Changyou.com Limited Share-based Awards

Changyou’s 2008 Share Incentive Plan

Changyou’s 2008 Share Incentive Plan (the “Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan”) originally provided for the issuance of up to 2,000,000 Changyou ordinary shares, including Changyou ordinary shares issued pursuant to the exercise of share options and upon vesting and settlement of restricted share units. The 2,000,000 reserved Changyou ordinary shares became 20,000,000 Changyou ordinary shares in March 2009 when Changyou effected a ten-for-one share split of its ordinary shares. Most of the awards granted under the Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan vest over a period of four years. The maximum term of any share right granted under the Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan will expire in August 2018.

Prior to the completion of Changyou’s initial public offering, Changyou had granted under the Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan 15,000,000 Changyou ordinary shares to its former chief executive officer Tao Wang, through Prominence Investments Ltd., which is an entity that may be deemed under applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission to be beneficially owned by Tao Wang. Through September 30, 2016, Changyou had also granted under the Changyou 2008 Share Incentive Plan restricted share units, settleable upon vesting by the issuance of an aggregate of 4,614,098 Changyou ordinary shares, to certain members of its management other than Tao Wang, and certain other Changyou employees.

i) Share-based Awards granted before Changyou’s IPO

All of the restricted Changyou ordinary shares and restricted share units granted before Changyou’s IPO became vested by the end of 2013. Hence there has been no share-based compensation expense recognized with respect to such restricted Changyou ordinary shares and restricted share units since their respective vesting dates.

ii) Share-based Awards granted after Changyou’s IPO

Through September 30, 2016, in addition to the share-based awards granted before Changyou’s IPO, Changyou had granted restricted share units, settleable upon vesting with the issuance of an aggregate of 1,581,226 Changyou ordinary shares, to certain members of its management other than Tao Wang and to certain of its other employees. These Changyou restricted share units are subject to vesting over a four-year period commencing on their grant dates. Share-based compensation expense for such Changyou restricted share units is recognized on an accelerated basis over the requisite service period. The fair value of Changyou restricted share units was determined based on the market price of Changyou’s ADSs on the grant date.

A summary of activity for these Changyou restricted share units as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


Restricted Share Units	Number of Units (in thousands)		Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested at January 1, 2016		20	$	14.25
Granted		0
Vested		0
Forfeited		0

Unvested at September 30, 2016		20		14.25

Expected to vest after September 30, 2016		20		14.25

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for the Changyou restricted share units described above was $22,000 and $66,000, respectively. For both the three and the nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for the Changyou restricted share units described above was negative $0.3 million. The negative amount resulted from Changyou’s reversal of share-based compensation expense for Changyou restricted share units that were cancelled due to termination of employment prior to vesting.

As of September 30, 2016, there was $44,000 unrecognized compensation expense related to the unvested restricted share units. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.63 years. The total fair value of these restricted share units vested was nil during both the three and the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The total fair value of these restricted share units vested during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 was nil and $0.7 million, respectively.

Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan

On June 27, 2014, Changyou reserved 2,000,000 of its Class A ordinary shares under the Changyou.com Limited 2014 Share Incentive Plan (the “Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan”) for the purpose of making share incentive awards to certain members of its management and key employees. On November 2, 2014, the number of Class A ordinary shares reserved under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan increased from 2,000,000 to 6,000,000. The maximum term of any share right granted under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan will expire in June 2024. As of September 30, 2016, 2,808,000 shares were available for grant under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan.

i) Summary of share option activity

On November 2, 2014, Changyou approved the contractual grant of an aggregate of 2,416,000 Class A restricted share units to certain members of its management and certain other employees. On February 16, 2015, Changyou’s Board of Directors approved the conversion of 2,400,000 of these Class A restricted share units into options for the purchase of Class A ordinary shares at an exercise price of $0.01. On June 1, 2015, Changyou’s Board of Directors approved the contractual grant of options for the purchase of an aggregate of 1,998,000 Class A ordinary shares to certain members of its management and certain other employees at an exercise price of $0.01. On July 28, 2016, Changyou’s Board of Directors approved the contractual grant of options for the purchase of an aggregate of 100,000 Class A ordinary shares to certain member of its management at an exercise price of $0.01. These Changyou share options vest in four equal installments over a period of four years, with each installment vesting upon satisfaction of a service period requirement and the achievement of certain subjective performance targets. These Changyou share options are substantially similar to restricted share units except for the nominal exercise price, which would be zero for restricted share units.

Under ASC 718-10-25 and ASC 718-10-55, no grant date can be established until a mutual understanding is reached between the Company and the recipients clarifying the subjective performance requirements. If the service inception date preceded the grant date, compensation expense should be accrued beginning on the service inception date, and re-measured on each subsequent reporting date before the grant date is established, based on the then-current fair value of the awards. To determine the fair value of these Changyou share options, the public market price of the underlying Changyou Class A ordinary shares at each reporting date is used and a binomial valuation model is applied.

On November 2, 2015 and June 1, 2016, 450,000 and 329,000, respectively, of these Changyou share options had been granted and had become vested, as a mutual understanding of the subjective performance targets had been reached between Changyou and the recipients, the targets had been satisfied, and the service period requirements had been fulfilled. The cumulative share-based compensation expense for these granted Changyou share options has been adjusted and fixed based on their fair value of $4.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively, at the grant date.

A summary of Changyou share option activity under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is presented below:


Options	Number Of Shares (in thousands)			Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value (1) (in thousands)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		450		$	0.01		8.84	$	5,580
Granted		329			0.01
Exercised		(269	)		0.01
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Vested at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Note (1): The aggregated intrinsic value in the preceding table represents the difference between Changyou’s closing price of $27.25 per ADS, or $13.63 per Class A ordinary share, on September 30, 2016 and the nominal exercise prices of the share options.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, share-based compensation expense recognized for these share options under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan was $7.2 million and $9.3 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, share-based compensation expense recognized for these share options under the Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan was negative $3.2 million and $7.7 million, respectively. The negative amount resulted from Changyou’s reversal of share-based compensation expense for restricted share units that were cancelled during the third quarter of 2015 due to termination of employment prior to vesting.

ii) Summary of restricted share unit activity

On November 2, 2014, Changyou had contractually granted under the 2014 Share Incentive Plan an aggregate of 16,000 Changyou Class A restricted share units to an employee. These Class A restricted share units are subject to vesting over a four-year period commencing on their grant dates. The fair values as of the grant dates of these Changyou restricted share units were determined based on market price of Changyou’s ADSs on the grant dates.

Due to the termination of employment of an employee during the second quarter of 2015 prior to vesting of Changyou restricted share units held by the employee, Changyou reversed share-based compensation expense in the amount of $17,000. There was no unrecognized compensation expense for these restricted share units after the second quarter of 2015, as all of them were forfeited during that quarter.

4) Sohu Video Share-based Awards

On January 4, 2012, Sohu Video adopted the Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan, under which 25,000,000 ordinary shares of Sohu Video are reserved for the purpose of making share incentive awards to management and key employees of Sohu Video and to Sohu management. The maximum term of any share incentive award granted under the Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan is ten years from the grant date. The Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan will expire on January 3, 2021. As of September 30, 2016, grants of options for the purchase of 16,368,200 ordinary shares of Sohu Video had been contractually made and were subject to vesting in four equal installments, with each installment vesting upon a service period requirement being met, as well as Sohu Video’s achievement of performance targets for the corresponding period. For purposes of ASC 718-10-25, as of September 30, 2016, no grant date had occurred, because the broader terms and conditions of the option awards had neither been finalized nor mutually agreed upon with the recipients. As of September 30, 2016, options for the purchase of 4,972,800 Sohu Video ordinary shares were vested.

For the three months and the nine months ended September 30, 2016, total share-based compensation expense recognized for vested Sohu Video options under the Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan was $149,000 and negative $448,000, respectively. For the three months and the nine months ended September 30, 2015, total share-based compensation expense recognized for vested Sohu Video options under the Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan was $99,000 and $199,000, respectively.

The fair value of the Sohu Video options contractually granted to management and key employees of Sohu Video and to Sohu management was estimated on the reporting date using the BP Model, with the following assumptions used:


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate	1.89	%
Exercise multiple	2.8
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)	19	%
Weighted average expected option life	5.3
Volatility rate	49.7	%
Dividend yield	0
Fair value	0.78

Related Party Transactions

The entire disclosure for shareholders' equity comprised of portions attributable to the parent entity and noncontrolling interest, including other comprehensive income. Includes, but is not limited to, balances of common stock, preferred stock, additional paid-in capital, other capital and retained earnings, accumulated balance for each classification of other comprehensive income and amount of comprehensive income.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 4.E)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27010918&loc=d3e74567-122707

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
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-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
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-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29))
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Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Topic 210
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Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
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-Section S99
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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(30))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

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-Publisher FASB
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-Section 50
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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21475-112644

Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Glossary Preferred Stock
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6521494

Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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+ Details

Related Party Transactions

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

10. Related Party Transactions

Changyou’s Loan Arrangements with SoEasy

Commencing in April 2015, certain subsidiaries of Changyou and certain subsidiaries of SoEasy entered into a series of loan agreements pursuant to which the subsidiaries of Changyou are entitled to draw down HK dollar-denominated or U.S. dollar-denominated loans from the SoEasy subsidiaries and the SoEasy subsidiaries are entitled to draw down equivalent RMB-denominated loans from the subsidiaries of Changyou, to facilitate each other’s business operations. All of the loans carry a fixed rate of interest equal to the current market interest rate. During the first quarter of 2016, Changyou drew down from SoEasy U.S. dollar-denominated loans of approximately $29.9 million and granted RMB-denominated loans to SoEasy of approximately $30.2 million. During the second quarter of 2016, Changyou repaid to SoEasy U.S. dollar-denominated loans of approximately $12.9 million and received from SoEasy RMB-denominated loans of $12.1 million. As of September 30, 2016, Changyou had U.S. dollar-denominated loans payable to SoEasy in a total amount of approximately $29.2 million, which was recorded in other short-term liabilities. As of the same date, Changyou had RMB-denominated loans receivable from SoEasy in a total amount of approximately $29.2 million, which was recorded in prepaid and other current assets. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, Changyou incurred interest expense of $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively, and earned interest income of $0.3 million and $1.0 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2016, total interest expense payable to SoEasy amounted to $0.4 million, which was recorded in other short-term liabilities; and total interest income receivable from SoEasy was $0.7 million, which was recorded in prepaid and other current assets.

Other Information

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Sohu Group generated brand advertising revenue from SoEasy of nil and $862,000, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Group incurred sales and marketing expense for SoEasy of nil and $216,000, respectively.

Sogou Transactions

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sogou Transactions [Abstract]

Sogou Transactions

11. Sogou Transactions

On September 16, 2013, Sogou entered into a series of agreements with Tencent, Sohu Search and Photon Group Limited (“Photon”) pursuant to which Sogou issued Series B Preferred Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares to Tencent for a net amount of $448 million in cash and Tencent transferred its Soso search-related businesses and certain other assets to Sogou (collectively, the “Sogou-Tencent Transactions”). Also on that date, Sogou entered into Repurchase Option Agreements with Sohu Search and Photon, and a Repurchase/Put Option Agreement with China Web Search (HK) Limited (“China Web”), with respect to all of the Series A Preferred Shares of Sogou held by Sohu Search and China Web, and a portion of the Series A Preferred Shares of Sogou held by Photon. Also on that date, Sogou, Sohu Search, Photon, Mr. Xiaochuan Wang, four other members of Sogou’s management (collectively, the “Sohu Parties”) and Tencent entered into a Shareholders Agreement (the “Shareholders Agreement”) under which the parties agreed to vote their Sogou shares in all elections of directors to elect three designees of Sohu Search and two designees of Tencent.

In June 2014, Sogou repurchased approximately 4.2 million of its Class A Ordinary Shares from noncontrolling shareholders, a majority of whom were employees of the Group, for an aggregate purchase price of $41.6 million. In March 2014, September 2015, and September 2015, respectively, Sogou purchased from China Web, Sohu Search and Photon, pursuant to the Repurchase Option Agreements entered into in September 2013, 14.4 million, 24.0 million and 6.4 million Series A Preferred Shares of Sogou, for an aggregate purchase price of $47.3 million, $78.8 million and $21.0 million, respectively. After these repurchases, the Sohu Group holds approximately 36% of the outstanding equity capital of Sogou, assuming that all share options under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan and all share options under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement are granted and exercised and that all of the 4.2 million Class A Ordinary Shares Sogou repurchased in June 2014 were issued to shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc.

The Sohu Group holds over 50% of the total voting power and controls the election of the Board of Directors of Sogou and, assuming that Tencent’s non-voting Class B Ordinary Shares are converted to voting shares, and that all Sogou share options under the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan and all Sogou share options under the Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement are granted and exercised, the Sohu Group will continue to do so. As Sohu.com Inc. is the controlling shareholder of Sogou, Sohu.com Inc. consolidates Sogou in the Group’s consolidated financial statements, and recognizes noncontrolling interest reflecting economic interests in Sogou held by shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc.

Sohu’s Shareholding in Sogou

As of September 30, 2016, Sogou had outstanding a combined total of 334,670,182 ordinary shares and preferred shares held as follows:

(i)	Sohu.com Inc.: 131,697,750 Class A Ordinary Shares, of which 4,484,500 shares may be purchased by Sohu management and key employees under an option arrangement;

(ii)	Photon: 32,000,000 Series A Preferred Shares

(iii)

Tencent: 6,757,875 Class A Ordinary Shares, 65,431,579 Series B Preferred Shares and 79,368,421 non-voting Class B Ordinary Shares; and

(iv)	Various employees of Sogou and Sohu: 19,414,557 Class A Ordinary Shares.

Because no ordinary shares will be issued with respect to share options granted by Sogou until they are vested and exercised, share options granted by Sogou that have not vested and vested share options that have not yet been exercised are not included as outstanding shares of Sogou and have no impact on the Sohu Group’s basic net income per share. Unvested share options with performance targets achieved and vested share options that have not yet been exercised do, however, have a dilutive impact on the Sohu Group’s dilutive net income per share. See Note 13 - Net Income/(Loss) per Share.

Terms of Sogou Preferred Shares

In connection with the Sogou-Tencent Transactions, Sogou’s shareholders adopted a Fifth Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Second Amended and Restated Articles of Association (together, the “Revised Sogou Memorandum and Articles”), which became effective on September 16, 2013. The following is a summary of some of the key terms of the Sogou Series A Preferred Shares and Series B Preferred Shares (collectively, the “Sogou Preferred Shares”) under the Revised Sogou Memorandum and Articles.

Dividend Rights

Sogou may not declare or pay dividends on its Class A Ordinary Shares or Class B Ordinary Shares (collectively, “Ordinary Shares”) unless the holders of the Sogou Preferred Shares then outstanding first receive a dividend on each outstanding Preferred Share in an amount at least equal to the sum of (i) the dividends that would have been payable to the holder of such Preferred Share if such share had been converted into Ordinary Shares, at the then-applicable conversion rate, immediately prior to the record date for such dividend, and (ii) all accrued and unpaid Accruing Dividends. “Accruing Dividends” are calculated from the date of issuance of the Series A Preferred Shares at the rate per annum of $0.0375 per Series A Preferred Share and from the date of issuance of the Series B Preferred Shares at the rate per annum of $0.411 per Series B Preferred Share.

Liquidation Rights

In the event of any “Liquidation Event,” such as the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of Sogou, a merger or consolidation of Sogou resulting in a change of control, the sale of substantially all of Sogou’s assets or similar events, the holders of Series B Preferred Shares are entitled to receive an amount per share equal to the greater of (i) $6.847 plus any unpaid Accruing Dividends or (ii) such amount per share as would have been payable if the Series B Preferred Shares had been converted into Ordinary Shares prior the Liquidation Event, and holders of Series A Preferred Shares are entitled to receive, after payment to the holders of the Series B Preferred Shares but before any payment to holders of Ordinary Shares, an amount equal to the greater of (i) 1.3 times their original investment in the Series A Preferred Shares plus all accrued but unpaid Accruing Dividends or (ii) such amount per share as would be payable if the Series A Preferred Shares had been converted into Ordinary Shares immediately prior to the Liquidation Event.

Redemption Rights

The Sogou Preferred Shares are not redeemable at the option of the holders.

Conversion Rights

Each Sogou Preferred Share is convertible, at the option of the holder, at any time, and without the payment of additional consideration by the holder. Each Sogou Preferred Share is convertible into such number of Class A Ordinary Shares as is determined, in the case of Series A Preferred Shares, by dividing $0.625 by the then-effective conversion price for Series A Preferred Shares, which is initially $0.625, and, in the case of Series B Preferred Shares, by dividing $7.267 by the then-effective conversion price for Series B Preferred Shares, which is initially $7.267. The conversion prices of the Sogou Preferred Shares are subject to adjustment on a weighted average basis upon the issuance of additional equity shares, or securities convertible into equity shares, at a price per share less than $0.625, in the case of Series A Preferred Shares, or less than $7.267, in the case of Series B Preferred Shares, subject to certain customary exceptions, such as shares issued pursuant to the Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan. Each Sogou Preferred Share will be automatically converted into Class A Ordinary Shares of Sogou upon the closing of a qualified IPO of Sogou based on the then-effective conversion ratio of such Sogou Preferred Share, which is currently one-for-one for both Series A Preferred Shares and Series B Preferred Shares.

Voting Rights

Each holder of Sogou Preferred Shares is entitled to cast the number of votes equal to the number of Class A Ordinary Shares into which the Sogou Preferred Shares held by such holder are then convertible.

Other Rights

The holders of Sogou Preferred Shares have various other rights typical of preferred share investments.

Terms of Sogou Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares

The Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares have identical rights, except that Class B Ordinary Shares do not have voting rights unless the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding Class B Ordinary Shares elect, by written notice to Sogou, to convert them into shares with voting rights.

Noncontrolling Interest

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]

Noncontrolling Interest

12. Noncontrolling Interest

The primary subsidiaries and VIEs of the Sohu Group which are consolidated in its consolidated financial statements with noncontrolling interest recognized are Sogou and Changyou.

Noncontrolling Interest for Sogou

Since Sohu.com Inc. controls the election of the Board of Directors of Sogou, Sohu.com Inc. is Sogou’s controlling shareholder. Therefore, Sogou’s financial results have been consolidated with those of Sohu.com Inc. for all periods presented. To reflect the economic interest in Sogou held by shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc. (the “Sogou noncontrolling shareholders”), Sogou’s net income /(loss) attributable to the Sogou noncontrolling shareholders is recorded as noncontrolling interest in the Sohu Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Sogou’s cumulative results of operations attributable to the Sogou noncontrolling shareholders, along with changes in shareholders’ equity /(deficit) and adjustment for share-based compensation expense in relation to those share-based awards which are unvested and vested but not yet settled and the Sogou noncontrolling shareholders’ investments in Sogou Preferred Shares and Ordinary Shares are accounted for as a noncontrolling interest classified as permanent equity in the Sohu Group’s consolidated balance sheets, as the Sohu Group has the right to reject a redemption requested by the noncontrolling interest. These treatments are based on the terms governing the investment, and on the terms of the classes of Sogou shares held, by the noncontrolling shareholders in Sogou.

By virtue of these terms, Sogou’s losses have been and will be allocated in the following order:

(i)	net losses were allocated to holders of Sogou Class A Ordinary Shares and the holder of Sogou Class B Ordinary Shares until their basis in Sogou decreased to zero;

(ii)	additional net losses were allocated to holders of Sogou Series A Preferred Shares until their basis in Sogou decreased to zero;

(iii)

additional net losses will be allocated to the holder of Sogou Series B Preferred Shares until its basis in Sogou decreases to zero; and

(iv)	further net losses will be allocated between Sohu.com Inc. and noncontrolling shareholders based on their shareholding percentage in Sogou.

Net income from Sogou has been, and future net income from Sogou will be, allocated in the following order:

(i)	net income will be allocated between Sohu.com Inc. and noncontrolling shareholders based on their shareholding percentage in Sogou until their basis in Sogou increases to zero;

(ii)	additional net income will be allocated to the holder of Sogou Series B Preferred Shares to bring its basis back;

(iii)

additional net income will be allocated to holders of Sogou Series A Preferred Shares to bring their basis back;

(iv)	further net income will be allocated to holders of Sogou Class A Ordinary Shares and the holder of Sogou Class B Ordinary Shares to bring their basis back; and

(v)	further net income will be allocated between Sohu.com Inc. and noncontrolling shareholders based on their shareholding percentage in Sogou.

Noncontrolling Interest for Changyou

As Sohu.com Inc. is Changyou’s controlling shareholder, Changyou’s financial results have been consolidated with those of Sohu.com Inc. for all periods presented. To reflect the economic interest in Changyou held by shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc. (the “Changyou noncontrolling shareholders”), Changyou’s net income /(loss) attributable to the Changyou noncontrolling shareholders is recorded as noncontrolling interest in the Sohu Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income, based on their share of the economic interest in Changyou. Changyou’s cumulative results of operations attributable to the Changyou noncontrolling shareholders, along with changes in shareholders’ equity, adjustment for share-based compensation expense in relation to those share-based awards which are unvested and vested but not yet settled and adjustment for changes in Sohu.com Inc.’s ownership in Changyou, are recorded as noncontrolling interest in the Sohu Group’s consolidated balance sheets.

Noncontrolling Interest in the Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of December 31, 2015 and September 30, 2016, noncontrolling interest in the consolidated balance sheets was $547.6 million and $489.7 million, respectively.


	As of
	December 31, 2015 (in thousands)		September 30, 2016 (in thousands)
Sogou	$	125,314	$	150,393
Changyou		364,416		397,246

Total	$	489,730	$	547,639

Noncontrolling Interest of Sogou

As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, noncontrolling interest of Sogou of $150.4 million and $125.3 million, respectively, was recognized in the Sohu Group’s consolidated balance sheets, representing Sogou’s cumulative results of operations attributable to shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc., Sogou’s share-based compensation expense, the investments of shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc. in Preferred Shares and Ordinary Shares of Sogou, the repurchase of Sogou Series A Preferred Shares from noncontrolling shareholders in March 2014 and September 2015, and Sogou’s repurchase of Class A Ordinary Shares from noncontrolling shareholders in June 2014.

Noncontrolling Interest of Changyou

As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, noncontrolling interest of Changyou of $397.2 million and $364.4 million, respectively, was recognized in the Sohu Group’s consolidated balance sheets, representing a 31% and 32% economic interest, respectively, in Changyou’s net assets held by shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc. and reflecting the reclassification of Changyou’s share-based compensation expense from shareholders’ additional paid-in capital to noncontrolling interest.

Noncontrolling Interest in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income was $32.8 million and $80.2 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income was $42.1 million and $107.3 million, respectively.


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015		2016		2015		2016
Sogou	$	35,930	$	20,283	$	74,212	$	46,383
Changyou		6,212		12,492		33,133		33,855

Total	$	42,142	$	32,775	$	107,345	$	80,238

Noncontrolling Interest of Sogou

For the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, a $20.3 million and $35.9 million net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest of Sogou, respectively, was recognized in the Sohu Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income, representing Sogou’s net income attributable to shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc.

Noncontrolling Interest of Changyou

For the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, net income of 12.5 million and $6.2 million, respectively, attributable to the noncontrolling interest of Changyou, representing a 31% economic interest in Changyou attributable to shareholders other than Sohu.com Inc. for the three months ended both September 30, 2016 and 2015, was recognized in the Sohu Group’s consolidated statements of comprehensive income.

Net Income /(Loss) per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Net Income /(Loss) per Share [Abstract]

Net Income /(Loss) per Share

13. Net Income /(Loss) per Share

Basic net income /(loss) per share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income /(loss) per share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares comprise shares issuable upon the exercise or settlement of share-based awards using the treasury stock method. The dilutive effect of share-based awards with performance requirements is not considered before the performance targets are actually met. The computation of diluted net income /(loss) per share does not assume conversion, exercise, or contingent issuance of securities that would have an anti-dilutive effect (i.e. an increase in earnings per share amounts or a decrease in loss per share amounts) on net income /(loss) per share. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, 214,000 and 241,000, respectively, common shares potentially issuable upon the exercise or settlement of share-based awards using the treasury stock method were anti-dilutive and excluded from the denominator for calculation of diluted net loss per share.

Additionally, for purposes of calculating the numerator of diluted net income /(loss) per share, the net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. is adjusted as follows. The adjustment will not be made if there is an anti-dilutive effect.

(1)

Sogou’s net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. is determined using the percentage that the weighted average number of Sogou shares held by Sohu.com Inc. represents of the weighted average number of Sogou Preferred Shares and Ordinary Shares, shares issuable upon the conversion of convertible preferred shares under the if-converted method, and shares issuable upon the exercise or settlement of share-based awards under the treasury stock method, and is not determined by allocating Sogou’s net income /(loss) to Sohu.com Inc. using the methodology for the calculation of net income /(loss) attributable to the Sogou noncontrolling shareholders discussed in Note 12 - Noncontrolling Interest.

In the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted net income /(loss) per share, assuming a dilutive effect, the percentage of Sohu.com Inc.’s shareholding in Sogou was calculated by treating convertible preferred shares issued by Sogou as having been converted at the beginning of the period and unvested Sogou share options with the performance targets achieved as well as vested but unexercised Sogou share options as having been exercised during the period. The dilutive effect of share-based awards with a performance requirement was not considered before the performance targets were actually met. The effect of this calculation is presented as “incremental dilution from Sogou” in the table below. Assuming an anti-dilutive effect, all of these Sogou shares and share options are excluded from the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted income /(loss) per share. As a result, Sogou’s net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. on a diluted basis equals the number used for the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s basic net income /(loss) per share.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, all of these Sogou shares and share options had an anti-dilutive effect, and therefore were excluded from the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted net loss per share, and “incremental dilution from Sogou” in the table below was zero.

(2)

Changyou’s net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. is determined using the percentage that the weighted average number of Changyou shares held by Sohu.com Inc. represents of the weighted average number of Changyou ordinary shares and shares issuable upon the exercise or settlement of share-based awards under the treasury stock method, and not by using the percentage held by Sohu.com Inc. of the total economic interest in Changyou, which is used for the calculation of basic net income per share.

In the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted net income /(loss) per share, assuming a dilutive effect, all of Changyou’s existing unvested restricted share units and share options, and vested restricted share units and share options that have not yet been settled, are treated as vested and settled by Changyou under the treasury stock method, causing the percentage of the weighted average number of shares held by Sohu.com Inc. in Changyou to decrease. As a result, Changyou’s net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. on a diluted basis decreased accordingly. The effect of this calculation is presented as “incremental dilution from Changyou” in the table below. Assuming an anti-dilutive effect, all of these Changyou restricted share units and share options are excluded from the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted net income /(loss) per share. As a result, Changyou’s net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc. on a diluted basis equals the number used for the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s basic net income /(loss) per share.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, all of these Changyou restricted share units had a dilutive effect, and therefore were included in the calculation of Sohu.com Inc.’s diluted net loss per share. This impact is presented as “incremental dilution from Changyou” in the table below.

The following table presents the calculation of the Sohu Group’s basic and diluted net income/ (loss) per share (in thousands, except per share data).


	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2015			2016			2015			2016
Numerator:
Net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc., basic (after subtracting the deemed dividend to noncontrolling Sogou Series A Preferred shareholders)	$	39,121		$	(74,814	)	$	(19,198	)	$	(158,124	)

Effect of dilutive securities:
Incremental dilution from Sogou		0			0			0			0
Incremental dilution from Changyou		(324	)		(472	)		(884	)		(1,125	)

Net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc., diluted	$	38,797		$	(75,286	)	$	(20,082	)	$	(159,249	)

Denominator:
Weighted average basic common shares outstanding		38,633			38,728			38,582			38,695
Effect of dilutive securities:
Share options and restricted share units		32			0			0			0

Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding		38,665			38,728			38,582			38,695

Basic net income /(loss) per share attributable to Sohu.com Inc.	$	1.01		$	(1.93	)	$	(0.50	)	$	(4.09	)

Diluted net income /(loss) per share attributable to Sohu.com Inc.	$	1.00		$	(1.94	)	$	(0.52	)	$	(4.12	)

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements [Abstract]

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

14. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Revenue from Contracts with Customers. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, ‘‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).’’ This guidance supersedes current guidance on revenue recognition in Topic 605, ‘‘Revenue Recognition.” In addition, there are disclosure requirements related to the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue recognition. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No.2015-14 to defer the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09 for all entities by one year. For public business entities that follow U.S. GAAP, the deferral results in the new revenue standard are being effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. On January 5, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01 (“ASU 2016-01”), Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, which amends certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. This amendment requires all equity investments to be measured at fair value, with changes in the fair value recognized through net income (other than those accounted for under equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee). This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

Leases. On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02 (“ASU 2016-02”), Leases. ASU 2016-02 specifies the accounting for leases. For operating leases, ASU 2016-02 requires a lessee to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, in its balance sheet. The standard also requires a lessee to recognize a single lease cost, calculated so that the cost of the lease is allocated over the lease term, on a generally straight-line basis. In addition, this standard requires both lessees and lessors to disclose certain key information about lease transactions. ASU 2016-02 is effective for public companies for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

Compensation – Stock Compensation. On March 30, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09 (“ASU 2016-09”), Compensation – Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which relates to the accounting for employee share-based payments. This standard addresses several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows; (d) accounting for forfeitures of share-based payments. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

Financial Instruments-Credit Losses. In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), which requires entities to measure all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. This replaces the existing incurred loss model and is applicable to the measurement of credit losses on financial assets measured at amortized cost. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Early application will be permitted for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact that the standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Statement of Cash Flows – Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. In August 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows – Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which clarifies the presentation and classification of certain cash receipts and cash payments in the statement of cash flows. This guidance is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Sohu Group is currently evaluating the impact that the standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Subsequent Event

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Subsequent Event [Abstract]

Subsequent Event

15. Subsequent Event

On October 24, 2016, Sohu Media entered into a loan agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with AmazGame, pursuant to which Sohu Media may borrow from time to time from AmazGame up to RMB1.0 billion (or approximately US$148.64 million). The first request for an advance under the Loan Agreement must be made on or prior to December 31, 2016, and requests for further advances may be made for one year following the initial advance. Such one-year request period may be extended for another one-year period with the consent of AmazGame. Principal amounts outstanding under the Loan Agreement will bear interest at an annual rate of 6%. The outstanding principal of each advance will be due one year from the date of the advance, subject to extension for an additional year with the consent of AmazGame.

Also on October 24, 2016, Sohu.com (Game) Limited (“Sohu Game”), a Cayman Islands company that is an indirect subsidiary of Sohu and is the direct parent of Changyou, and Changyou entered into a share pledge agreement (the “Share Pledge Agreement”) pursuant to which Sohu Game pledged to Changyou an agreed-upon number of Changyou Class B ordinary shares of Changyou held by Sohu Game. The share pledge agreement will give Changyou the right to apply the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the loan to the repurchase of Changyou Class B ordinary shares from Sohu Game in the event that such principal and interest are not paid when due.

As of the date of this report, Sohu Media has not requested any advances from AmazGame under the Loan Agreement.

Segment Information (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Segment Information [Abstract]

Segment operating information by segment


	Three Months Ended September 30, 2015
	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Eliminations			Consolidated
Revenues (1)	$	172,902		$	162,300		$	188,875		$	(1,987	)	$	522,090
Segment cost of revenues		(99,742	)		(66,035	)		(48,821	)		539			(214,059	)
Segment gross profit		73,160			96,265			140,054			(1,448	)		308,031
SBC (2) in cost of revenues		(184	)		(12	)		96			0			(100	)

Gross profit		72,976			96,253			140,150			(1,448	)		307,931

Operating expenses:
Product development (3)		(23,708	)		(31,573	)		(40,178	)		1,348			(94,111	)
Sales and marketing (1)		(52,315	)		(25,775	)		(21,639	)		1,599			(98,130	)
General and administrative		(12,966	)		(3,956	)		(17,741	)		(203	)		(34,866	)
Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition		0			0			(40,324	)		0			(40,324	)
SBC (2) in operating expenses		(2,228	)		1,262			3,368			0			2,402

Total operating expenses		(91,217	)		(60,042	)		(116,514	)		2,744			(265,029	)

Operating profit /(loss)		(18,241	)		36,211			23,636			1,296			42,902

Other income (3) (4)		91,736			32			58,554			(80,103	)		70,219
Net interest income		587			1,326			3,279			0			5,192
Exchange difference		1,360			627			2,335			0			4,322

Income before income tax expense		75,442			38,196			87,804			(78,807	)		122,635

Income tax expense		(1,091	)		(2,586	)		(25,784	)		0			(29,461	)

Net income	$	74,351		$	35,610		$	62,020		$	(78,807	)	$	93,174

Note (1):

The elimination mainly consists of revenues and expenses generated from marketing services among the Sohu, Sogou and Changyou segments.

Note (2):

“SBC” stands for share-based compensation expense.

Note (3):

The elimination mainly consists of leasing income and expenses generated from a building that Sohu leases to Sogou.

Note (4):


	Three Months Ended September 30, 2016
	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Eliminations			Consolidated
Revenues (1)	$	109,560		$	165,952		$	135,862		$	(792	)	$	410,582
Segment cost of revenues		(102,772	)		(78,788	)		(41,071	)		42			(222,589	)

Segment gross profit		6,788			87,164			94,791			(750	)		187,993
SBC (2) in cost of revenues		(266	)		(3	)		(26	)		0			(295	)

Gross profit		6,522			87,161			94,765			(750	)		187,698

Operating expenses:
Product development (3)		(25,043	)		(34,496	)		(27,410	)		1,047			(85,902	)
Sales and marketing (1)		(66,555	)		(26,011	)		(18,311	)		1,045			(109,832	)
General and administrative		(11,831	)		(6,409	)		(12,432	)		20			(30,652	)
SBC (2) in operating expenses		(5,509	)		(190	)		(7,176	)		0			(12,875	)

Total operating expenses		(108,938	)		(67,106	)		(65,329	)		2,112			(239,261	)

Operating profit /(loss)		(102,416	)		20,055			29,436			1,362			(51,563	)

Other income (3)		1,379			970			2,691			(1,362	)		3,678
Net interest income /(expense)		(466	)		705			5,879			0			6,118
Exchange difference		(297	)		481			518			0			702

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)		(101,800	)		22,211			38,524			0			(41,065	)

Income tax benefit /(expense)		635			(2,128	)		519			0			(974	)

Net income /(loss)	$	(101,165	)	$	20,083		$	39,043		$	0		$	(42,039	)

Note (1):

The elimination mainly consists of revenues and expenses generated from marketing services among the Sohu, Sogou and Changyou segments.

Note (2):

“SBC” stands for share-based compensation expense.

Note (3):

The elimination mainly consists of leasing income and expenses generated from a building that Sohu leases to Sogou.


	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2015
	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Eliminations			Consolidated
Revenues (1)	$	450,776		$	426,099		$	599,726		$	(5,613	)	$	1,470,988
Segment cost of revenues		(306,221	)		(177,401	)		(174,024	)		1,091			(656,555	)
Segment gross profit		144,555			248,698			425,702			(4,522	)		814,433
SBC (2) in cost of revenues		(847	)		(119	)		8			0			(958	)

Gross profit		143,708			248,579			425,710			(4,522	)		813,475

Operating expenses:
Product development (3)		(72,362	)		(93,285	)		(124,156	)		3,740			(286,063	)
Sales and marketing (1)		(148,241	)		(64,718	)		(76,365	)		5,196			(284,128	)
General and administrative		(44,551	)		(10,873	)		(56,076	)		(459	)		(111,959	)
Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition		0			0			(40,324	)		0			(40,324	)
SBC (2) in operating expenses		(14,371	)		(5,681	)		(7,539	)		85			(27,506	)

Total operating expenses		(279,525	)		(174,557	)		(304,460	)		8,562			(749,980	)

Operating profit /(loss)		(135,817	)		74,022			121,250			4,040			63,495

Other income /(expense) (3) (4)		91,679			122			63,896			(82,761	)		72,936
Net interest income		2,432			4,011			11,012			0			17,455
Exchange difference		1,124			337			1,991			0			3,452

Income /(loss) before income tax expense		(40,582	)		78,492			198,149			(78,721	)		157,338

Income tax expense		(5,642	)		(5,900	)		(45,738	)		0			(57,280	)

Net income /(loss)	$	(46,224	)	$	72,592		$	152,411		$	(78,721	)	$	100,058

Note (1):

The elimination mainly consists of revenues and expenses generated from marketing services among the Sohu, Sogou and Changyou segments.

Note (2):

“SBC” stands for share-based compensation expense.

Note (3):

The elimination mainly consists of leasing income and expenses generated from a building that Sohu leases to Sogou.

Note (4):


	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Eliminations			Consolidated
Revenues (1)	$	357,437		$	488,829		$	394,862		$	(2,456	)	$	1,238,672
Segment cost of revenues		(284,765	)		(218,394	)		(124,795	)		259			(627,695	)

Segment gross profit		72,672			270,435			270,067			(2,197	)		610,977
SBC (2) in cost of revenues		(255	)		(3	)		(36	)		0			(294	)

Gross profit		72,417			270,432			270,031			(2,197	)		610,683

Operating expenses:
Product development (3)		(71,606	)		(99,781	)		(87,785	)		3,328			(255,844	)
Sales and marketing (1)		(194,171	)		(82,618	)		(43,921	)		3,040			(317,670	)
General and administrative		(36,914	)		(13,972	)		(35,985	)		69			(86,802	)
SBC (2) in operating expenses		(4,007	)		(2,542	)		(9,304	)		0			(15,853	)

Total operating expenses		(306,698	)		(198,913	)		(176,995	)		6,437			(676,169	)

Operating profit /(loss)		(234,281	)		71,519			93,036			4,240			(65,486	)

Other income /(expense) (3) (4)		3,832			(26,623	)		10,060			(4,240	)		(16,971	)
Net interest income		112			4,233			11,952			0			16,297
Exchange difference		366			819			2,361			0			3,546

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)		(229,971	)		49,948			117,409			0			(62,614	)

Income tax benefit /(expense)		1,505			(4,550	)		(12,227	)		0			(15,272	)

Net income /(loss)	$	(228,466	)	$	45,398		$	105,182		$	0		$	(77,886	)

Note (1):

The elimination mainly consists of revenues and expenses generated from marketing services among the Sohu, Sogou and Changyou segments.

Note (2):

“SBC” stands for share-based compensation expense.

Note (3):

The elimination mainly consists of leasing income and expenses generated from a building that Sohu leases to Sogou.

Note (4):

Segment assets information by segment


	As of December 31, 2015
	Sohu		Sogou		Changyou		Eliminations			Consolidated
Cash and cash equivalents	$	430,804	$	244,484	$	569,917	$	0		$	1,245,205
Accounts receivable, net		176,759		28,986		67,959		(87	)		273,617
Fixed assets, net		223,939		70,447		214,306		0			508,692
Total assets (1)	$	1,356,263	$	387,875	$	1,779,506	$	(481,450	)	$	3,042,194

Note (1):


	As of September 30, 2016
	Sohu		Sogou		Changyou		Eliminations			Consolidated
Cash and cash equivalents	$	231,035	$	224,116	$	636,934	$	0		$	1,092,085
Accounts receivable, net		121,828		33,344		49,661		(85	)		204,748
Fixed assets, net		208,808		117,318		199,773		0			525,899
Total assets (1)	$	1,335,854	$	474,537	$	1,707,259	$	(842,197	)	$	2,675,453

Note (1):

Share-Based Compensation Expense (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Share-Based Compensation Expense [Abstract]

Share-based compensation expense recognized in costs and expenses


	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
Share-based compensation expense	2015			2016		2015		2016
Cost of revenues	$	99		$	295	$	957	$	294
Product development expenses (1)		(1,331	)		4,105		9,680		5,801
Sales and marketing expenses		466			752		1,573		927
General and administrative expenses (1)		(1,536	)		8,018		16,255		9,125

	$	(2,302	)	$	13,170	$	28,465	$	16,147

Share-based compensation expense recognized for share awards of Sohu (excluding Sohu Video), Sogou, Changyou and Sohu Video


	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
Share-based compensation expense	2015			2016		2015		2016
For Sohu (excluding Sohu Video) share-based awards	$	2,294		$	5,639	$	15,031	$	4,749
For Sogou share-based awards (1) (2)		(1,230	)		180		5,706		2,505
For Changyou share-based awards (1)		(3,465	)		7,202		7,529		9,340
For Sohu Video share-based awards (1)		99			149		199		(447	)

	$	(2,302	)	$	13,170	$	28,465	$	16,147

Fair Value Measurements (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Financial instruments, measured at fair value


			Fair value measurements at reporting date using
Items	As of December 31, 2015		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents	$	727,232	$	0	$	727,232	$	0
Restricted time deposits		363,979		0		363,979		0
Short-term investments		174,515		0		174,515		0
Available-for-sale equity securities		14,301		14,301		0		0

Total	$	1,280,027	$	14,301	$	1,265,726	$	0

The following table sets forth the financial instruments, measured at fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy, as of September 30, 2016 (in thousands):


			Fair value measurements at reporting date using
Items	As of September 30, 2016		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents	$	769,895	$	0	$	769,895	$	0
Short-term investments		264,109		0		264,109		0
Available-for-sale equity securities		12,180		12,180		0		0
Restricted time deposits		9,270		0		9,270		0

Total	$	1,055,454	$	12,180	$	1,043,274	$	0

Aggregate assets and liabilities held for sale


	As of September 30, 2016
Cash and cash equivalents	$	10,280
Prepaid and other current assets		2,579
Goodwill		83,470
Intangible assets		5,457

Assets held for sale	$	101,786

Other liabilities		3,236

Liabilities held for sale	$	3,236

Goodwill (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Goodwill [Abstract]

Changes in carrying value of goodwill by segment


	Sohu			Sogou			Changyou			Total
Balance as of December 31, 2015
Goodwill	$	72,980			5,945			181,529			260,454
Accumulated impairment losses		(35,788	)		0			(70,447	)		(106,235	)

	$	37,192		$	5,945		$	111,082		$	154,219
Transactions in 2016
Transferred to assets held for sale		0			0			(83,470	)		(83,470	)
Foreign currency translation adjustment		(418	)		(164	)		(479	)		(1,061	)

Balance as of September 30, 2016	$	36,774		$	5,781		$	27,133		$	69,688

Balance as of September 30, 2016
Goodwill	$	72,562		$	5,781		$	97,580		$	175,923
Accumulated impairment losses		(35,788	)		0			(70,447	)		(106,235	)

	$	36,774		$	5,781		$	27,133		$	69,688

Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Contractual Obligations


As of September 30, 2016
Purchase of content and services – video	$	196,173
Purchase of cinema advertisement slot rights		109,550
Purchase of bandwidth		57,881
Operating lease obligations		25,692
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - PC games		15,750
Purchase of content and services – others		9,884
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - mobile games		3,866
Purchase of fixed assets		2,261
Expenditures for titles in game development		1,035
Fees for operating rights for licensed games in development – mobile games		589
Others		3,819

Total	$	426,500

VIEs (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

VIEs [Abstract]

Financial information of consolidated VIEs


	As of
	December 31, 2015		September 30, 2016
ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	131,270	$	141,830
Accounts receivable, net		135,925		92,071
Prepaid and other current assets		101,951		93,237
Assets held for sale		0		12,062
Intercompany receivables due from the Company’s subsidiaries		140,396		221,842

Total current assets		509,542		561,042

Long-term investments, net		15,960		15,189
Fixed assets, net		7,362		5,176
Intangible assets, net		18,266		14,977
Goodwill		36,351		35,838
Other non-current assets		12,057		6,499

Total assets	$	599,538	$	638,721

LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable	$	23,757	$	11,505
Accrued liabilities		79,012		84,379
Receipts in advance and deferred revenue		55,319		48,764
Liabilities held for sale		0		2,452
Other current liabilities		141,247		157,346
Intercompany payables due to the Company’s subsidiaries		175,178		182,537

Total current liabilities		474,513		486,983

Long-term accounts payable		2,858		0
Long-term taxes payable		0		13,986
Intercompany payables due to the Company’s subsidiaries		21,717		20,420

Total liabilities	$	499,088	$	521,389

Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member]

Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide.

+ References + Details

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Restricted share unit activity


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average		Aggregate
	Of			Average		Remaining		Intrinsic
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual		Value (1)
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)		(in thousands)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		0		$				$
Granted		253			0.001
Exercised		(56	)		0.001
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717

Vested at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		197			0.001		8.35		8,717


	Number of			Weighted-Average
	Units			Grant-Date
Restricted Stock Units	(in thousands)			Fair Value
Unvested at January 1, 2016		32		$	70.24
Granted		11			51.00
Vested		(12	)		56.83
Forfeited		(9	)		63.45

Unvested at September 30, 2016		22			70.61

Expected to vest after September 30, 2016		17			68.96

Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member]


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average
	Of			Average		Remaining
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		12,209		$	0.369
Granted		2,337			0.001
Exercised		(3,800	)		0.001
Forfeited or expired		(1,128	)		0.001

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		9,618			0.468		6.58

Vested at September 30, 2016 and expected to vest thereafter		2,360

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		5

Stock option assumptions


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate			1.90%~2.77%
Exercise multiple			2~3
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)			0%~12%
Weighted average expected option life			7
Volatility rate			43%~50%
Dividend yield			0%
Fair value			3.18~3.93

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Changyou's Share-based Awards Granted after IPO [Member]


						Weighted
	Number			Weighted		Average
	Of			Average		Remaining
	Shares			Exercise		Contractual
Options	(in thousands)			Price		Life (Years)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		3,664		$	0.623
Granted		58			0.625
Exercised		(532	)		0.625
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		3,190			0.623		6.03

Vested at September 30, 2016 and expected to vest thereafter		790

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		732

Stock option assumptions


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate			2.01%~2.15%
Exercise multiple			2~3
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)			0%
Weighted average expected option life			6
Volatility rate			43%~47%
Dividend yield			0%
Fair value			2.56~3.31

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Restricted share unit activity


Restricted Share Units	Number of Units (in thousands)		Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested at January 1, 2016		20	$	14.25
Granted		0
Vested		0
Forfeited		0

Unvested at September 30, 2016		20		14.25

Expected to vest after September 30, 2016		20		14.25

Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member]


Options	Number Of Shares (in thousands)			Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value (1) (in thousands)
Outstanding at January 1, 2016		450		$	0.01		8.84	$	5,580
Granted		329			0.01
Exercised		(269	)		0.01
Forfeited or expired		0

Outstanding at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Vested at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Exercisable at September 30, 2016		510			0.01		8.32		6,942

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Stock option assumptions


Assumptions Adopted
Average risk-free interest rate	1.89	%
Exercise multiple	2.8
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)	19	%
Weighted average expected option life	5.3
Volatility rate	49.7	%
Dividend yield	0
Fair value	0.78

Noncontrolling Interest (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]

Noncontrolling interest in consolidated balance sheets


	As of
	December 31, 2015 (in thousands)		September 30, 2016 (in thousands)
Sogou	$	125,314	$	150,393
Changyou		364,416		397,246

Total	$	489,730	$	547,639

Noncontrolling interest in consolidated statements of comprehensive income


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015		2016		2015		2016
Sogou	$	35,930	$	20,283	$	74,212	$	46,383
Changyou		6,212		12,492		33,133		33,855

Total	$	42,142	$	32,775	$	107,345	$	80,238

Net Income /(Loss) per Share (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Net Income /(Loss) per Share [Abstract]

Calculation of basic and diluted net income /(loss) per share


	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2015			2016			2015			2016
Numerator:
Net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc., basic (after subtracting the deemed dividend to noncontrolling Sogou Series A Preferred shareholders)	$	39,121		$	(74,814	)	$	(19,198	)	$	(158,124	)

Effect of dilutive securities:
Incremental dilution from Sogou		0			0			0			0
Incremental dilution from Changyou		(324	)		(472	)		(884	)		(1,125	)

Net income /(loss) attributable to Sohu.com Inc., diluted	$	38,797		$	(75,286	)	$	(20,082	)	$	(159,249	)

Denominator:
Weighted average basic common shares outstanding		38,633			38,728			38,582			38,695
Effect of dilutive securities:
Share options and restricted share units		32			0			0			0

Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding		38,665			38,728			38,582			38,695

Basic net income /(loss) per share attributable to Sohu.com Inc.	$	1.01		$	(1.93	)	$	(0.50	)	$	(4.09	)

Diluted net income /(loss) per share attributable to Sohu.com Inc.	$	1.00		$	(1.94	)	$	(0.52	)	$	(4.12	)

The Company and Basis of Presentation (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 410,582	$ 522,090	$ 1,238,672	$ 1,470,988
Product Risk [Member] \| Total revenues [Member] \| TLBB [Member]
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Percentage of revenues derived from TLBB	14.00%	15.00%	13.00%	17.00%
Changyou [Member] \| MoboTap [Member]
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Divestiture of equity interest in MoboTap	51.00%
Changyou [Member] \| TLBB [Member]
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 56,000	$ 77,800	$ 162,900	$ 244,900
Changyou [Member] \| Product Risk [Member] \| Online game revenues [Member] \| TLBB [Member]
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Percentage of revenues derived from TLBB	57.00%	51.00%	54.00%	48.00%
Changyou [Member] \| Product Risk [Member] \| Total revenues [Member] \| TLBB [Member]
Organization and Nature of Operations [Line Items]
Percentage of revenues derived from TLBB	41.00%	41.00%	41.00%	41.00%

Segment Information (Segment Operating Information by Segment) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands, shares in Millions

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Jun. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Operating Segments [Member] | Sohu [Member]

^[1]

$ 109,560

$ 172,902

$ 357,437

$ 450,776

(102,772)

(99,742)

(284,765)

(306,221)

6,788

73,160

72,672

144,555

^[2]

(266)

(184)

(255)

(847)

6,522

72,976

72,417

143,708

^[3]

(25,043)

(23,708)

(71,606)

(72,362)

^[1]

(66,555)

(52,315)

(194,171)

(148,241)

Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition

(11,831)

(12,966)

(36,914)

(44,551)

^[2]

(5,509)

(2,228)

(4,007)

(14,371)

(108,938)

(91,217)

(306,698)

(279,525)

(102,416)

(18,241)

(234,281)

(135,817)

^[3]

1,379

91,736

^[4]

3,832

^[5]

91,679

^[4]

(466)

587

112

2,432

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)

(297)

1,360

366

1,124

(101,800)

75,442

(229,971)

(40,582)

635

(1,091)

1,505

(5,642)

(101,165)

74,351

(228,466)

(46,224)

Operating Segments [Member] | Sogou [Member]

^[3]

1,379

91,736

^[4]

3,832

^[5]

91,679

^[4]

^[1]

165,952

162,300

488,829

426,099

(78,788)

(66,035)

(218,394)

(177,401)

87,164

96,265

270,435

248,698

^[2]

(3)

(12)

(3)

(119)

87,161

96,253

270,432

248,579

^[3]

(34,496)

(31,573)

(99,781)

(93,285)

^[1]

(26,011)

(25,775)

(82,618)

(64,718)

Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition

(6,409)

(3,956)

(13,972)

(10,873)

^[2]

(190)

1,262

(2,542)

(5,681)

(67,106)

(60,042)

(198,913)

(174,557)

20,055

36,211

71,519

74,022

^[3]

970

^[4]

(26,623)

^[5]

122

^[4]

705

1,326

4,233

4,011

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)

481

627

819

337

22,211

38,196

49,948

78,492

(2,128)

(2,586)

(4,550)

(5,900)

20,083

35,610

45,398

72,592

Operating Segments [Member] | Changyou [Member]

^[3]

970

^[4]

(26,623)

^[5]

122

^[4]

^[1]

135,862

188,875

394,862

599,726

(41,071)

(48,821)

(124,795)

(174,024)

94,791

140,054

270,067

425,702

^[2]

(26)

(36)

94,765

140,150

270,031

425,710

^[3]

(27,410)

(40,178)

(87,785)

(124,156)

^[1]

(18,311)

(21,639)

(43,921)

(76,365)

Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition

(12,432)

(17,741)

(35,985)

(56,076)

(40,324)

^[2]

(7,176)

3,368

(9,304)

(7,539)

(65,329)

(116,514)

(176,995)

(304,460)

29,436

23,636

93,036

121,250

^[3]

2,691

58,554

^[4]

10,060

^[5]

63,896

^[4]

5,879

3,279

11,952

11,012

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)

518

2,335

2,361

1,991

38,524

87,804

117,409

198,149

519

(25,784)

(12,227)

(45,738)

39,043

62,020

105,182

152,411

^[3]

2,691

58,554

^[4]

10,060

^[5]

63,896

^[4]

Eliminations [Member]

^[1]

(792)

(1,987)

(2,456)

(5,613)

539

259

1,091

(750)

(1,448)

(2,197)

(4,522)

^[2]

(750)

(1,448)

(2,197)

(4,522)

^[3]

1,047

1,348

3,328

3,740

^[1]

1,045

1,599

3,040

5,196

Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition

(203)

(459)

^[2]

2,112

2,744

6,437

8,562

1,362

1,296

4,240

4,040

^[3]

(1,362)

(80,103)

^[4]

(4,240)

^[5]

(82,761)

^[4]

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)

(78,807)

(78,721)

(78,807)

(78,721)

Eliminations [Member] | Sohu [Member]

^[3]

(1,362)

(80,103)

^[4]

(4,240)

^[5]

(82,761)

^[4]

78,800

78,800

410,582

522,090

1,238,672

1,470,988

(222,589)

(214,059)

(627,695)

(656,555)

187,993

308,031

610,977

814,433

^[2]

(295)

(100)

(294)

(958)

187,698

307,931

610,683

813,475

^[3]

(85,902)

(94,111)

(255,844)

(286,063)

^[1]

(109,832)

(98,130)

(317,670)

(284,128)

Goodwill impairment and impairment of intangible assets acquired as part of a business acquisition

(30,652)

(34,866)

(86,802)

(111,959)

(40,324)

^[2]

(12,875)

2,402

(15,853)

(27,506)

(239,261)

(265,029)

(676,169)

(749,980)

(51,563)

42,902

(65,486)

63,495

3,678

70,219

(16,971)

72,936

6,118

5,192

16,297

17,455

Income /(loss) before income tax benefit /(expense)

702

4,322

3,546

3,452

(41,065)

122,635

(62,614)

157,338

(974)

(29,461)

(15,272)

(57,280)

(42,039)

93,174

(77,886)

100,058

One-time expense related to donation

$ 3,678

$ 70,219

$ (16,971)

$ 72,936

$ 27,800

Sogou [Member] | Series A Preferred Shares [Member]

Purchase of Series A Preferred Shares, shares

24.0

Purchase of Series A Preferred Shares, aggregate purchase price

$ 78,800

[1]	The elimination mainly consists of revenues and expenses generated from marketing services among the Sohu, Sogou and Changyou segments.
[2]	"SBC" stands for share-based compensation expense.
[3]	The elimination mainly consists of leasing income and expenses generated from a building that Sohu leases to Sogou.
[4]	In the third quarter of 2015, Sogou purchased from Sohu 24.0 million Series A Preferred Shares of Sogou for $78.8 million. Sohu recognized $78.8 million in other income, which was eliminated in the Group's consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
[5]	In the second quarter of 2016, the Sohu Group recognized a one-time expense of $27.8 million that was related to a donation by Sogou to Tsinghua University related to setting up a joint research institute focusing on artificial intelligence technology.

Segment Information (Segment Assets Information by Segment) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

Sep. 30, 2016

Dec. 31, 2015

Sep. 30, 2015

Dec. 31, 2014

Operating Segments [Member] | Sohu [Member]

$ 231,035

$ 430,804

121,828

176,759

208,808

223,939

Operating Segments [Member] | Sogou [Member]

^[1]

1,335,854

1,356,263

224,116

244,484

33,344

28,986

117,318

70,447

Operating Segments [Member] | Changyou [Member]

^[1]

474,537

387,875

636,934

569,917

49,661

67,959

199,773

214,306

^[1]

1,707,259

1,779,506

Eliminations [Member]

(85)

(87)

^[1]

(842,197)

(481,450)

1,092,085

1,245,205

$ 1,073,879

$ 876,340

204,748

273,617

525,899

508,692

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]

$ 2,675,453

$ 3,042,194

[1]	The elimination for segment assets mainly consists of elimination of intracompany loans between the Sohu segment and the Changyou segment, and elimination of long-term investments in subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs.

Share-Based Compensation Expense (Narrative) (Details) - shares		9 Months Ended
	Jan. 04, 2012	Sep. 30, 2016	Jul. 28, 2016	May 01, 2016	Jun. 01, 2015	Feb. 16, 2015	Feb. 07, 2015	Nov. 02, 2014	Jul. 02, 2010
Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized for issuance									1,500,000
Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Share Options [Member] \| Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted				13,000			1,068,000
Installments of share options granted		Four equal installments
Award vesting period		4 years
Changyou [Member] \| Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] \| Share Options [Member] \| Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted			100,000		1,998,000
Number of ordinary shares converted to options from restricted share units						2,400,000
Installments of share options granted		Four equal installments
Award vesting period		4 years
Changyou [Member] \| Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] \| Restricted Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted								2,416,000
Award vesting period		4 years
Sohu Video [Member] \| Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member] \| Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized for issuance	25,000,000
Percentage of outstanding ordinary shares on a fully-diluted basis	10.00%
Sohu Video [Member] \| Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member] \| Share Options [Member] \| Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted		16,368,200
Installments of share options granted		Four equal installments
Number of options vested		4,972,800

Share-Based Compensation Expense (Share-based Compensation Expense Recognized in Costs and Expenses) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Cost of revenues [Member]

$ 13,170

$ (2,302)

$ 16,147

$ 28,465

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]

Product development expenses [Member]

295

294

957

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]

Sales and marketing expenses [Member]

^[1]

4,105

(1,331)

5,801

9,680

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]

General and administrative expenses [Member]

752

466

927

1,573

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

^[1]

$ 8,018

$ (1,536)

$ 9,125

$ 16,255

[1]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Share-Based Compensation Expense (Share-based Compensation Expense Recognized for Share Awards of Sohu(excluding Sohu Video), Sogou, Changyou and Sohu Video) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Capitalized share-based compensation expense

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Sohu (excluding Sohu Video) [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

5,639,000

2,294,000

4,749,000

15,031,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

^[1],[2]

180,000

(1,230,000)

2,505,000

5,706,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

^[2]

7,202,000

(3,465,000)

9,340,000

7,529,000

Sohu Video [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

^[2]

$ 149,000

$ 99,000

$ (447,000)

$ 199,000

[1]	Compensation expense for Sogou share-based awards also includes compensation expense for Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses.
[2]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Fair Value Measurements (Financial Instruments, Measured at Fair Value) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	$ 264,100
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	769,895	$ 727,232
Restricted time deposits	9,270	363,979
Short-term investments	264,109	174,515
Available-for-sale equity securities	12,180	14,301
Total	1,055,454	1,280,027
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted time deposits	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Available-for-sale equity securities	12,180	14,301
Total	12,180	14,301
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	769,895	727,232
Restricted time deposits	9,270	363,979
Short-term investments	264,109	174,515
Available-for-sale equity securities	0	0
Total	1,043,274	1,265,726
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member] \| Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted time deposits	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Available-for-sale equity securities	0	0
Total	$ 0	$ 0

Fair Value Measurements (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
Fair Value Measurements (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Apr. 30, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Aug. 12, 2014	Feb. 28, 2013
Short-term Investments [Abstract]
Investments in financial instruments					$ 264,100,000			$ 264,100,000
Changes in fair value of short-term investments					2,800,000		$ 3,000,000	5,300,000	$ 6,800,000
Restricted Time Deposits [Abstract]
Restricted time deposits, collateral for credit facilities												$ 9,000,000
Total amount of repaid bank loans								344,500,000	25,500,000
Long-term Investments [Abstract]
Investment amount					68,861,000			68,861,000		$ 62,093,000
Long-term Investment in SoEasy [Member]
Long-term Investments [Abstract]
Investment amount in period	$ 10,500,000		$ 16,300,000	$ 4,800,000
Investment amount					25,000,000			25,000,000
Changyou [Member]
Restricted Time Deposits [Abstract]
Total amount of repaid bank loans						$ 344,500,000
Amount of released restricted time deposits securing bank loans						$ 354,700,000
Interest income from restricted time deposits securing loans					0		3,000,000	700,000	10,200,000
Interest expense on bank loans					$ 0		$ 1,800,000	600,000	$ 5,300,000
Changyou [Member] \| MoboTap [Member]
Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale [Abstract]
Divestiture of equity interest in MoboTap					51.00%
Sogou [Member] \| Long-term Investment in Zhihu [Member]
Long-term Investments [Abstract]
Long-term investments paid in cash		$ 12,000,000
Cost method investment, ownership percentage in Zhihu's capital		3.00%
Shares of Keyeast [Member]
Available-for-Sale Equity Securities [Abstract]
Percentage of total outstanding common shares acquired and classified as available-for-sale securities											6.00%
Purchase price of available-for-sale securities											$ 15,100,000
Fair value of available-for-sale equity securities					$ 12,200,000			12,200,000
Unrealized loss representing change in fair value								$ (2,900,000)

Fair Value Measurements (Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 10,280
Prepaid and other current assets	2,579
Goodwill	83,470
Intangible assets	5,457
Assets held for sale	101,786	$ 0
Other liabilities	3,236
Liabilities held for sale	$ 3,236	$ 0

Goodwill (Carrying Value of Goodwill by Segment) (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Beginning Balance	$ 260,454
Accumulated impairment losses, Beginning Balance	(106,235)
Goodwill, Net, Beginning Balance	154,219
Transactions in Period [Abstract]
Transferred to assets held for sale	(83,470)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(1,061)
Goodwill, Ending Balance	175,923
Accumulated impairment losses, Ending Balance	(106,235)
Goodwill, Net, Ending Balance	69,688
Operating Segments [Member] \| Sohu [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Beginning Balance	72,980
Accumulated impairment losses, Beginning Balance	(35,788)
Goodwill, Net, Beginning Balance	37,192
Transactions in Period [Abstract]
Transferred to assets held for sale	0
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(418)
Goodwill, Ending Balance	72,562
Accumulated impairment losses, Ending Balance	(35,788)
Goodwill, Net, Ending Balance	36,774
Operating Segments [Member] \| Sogou [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Beginning Balance	5,945
Accumulated impairment losses, Beginning Balance	0
Goodwill, Net, Beginning Balance	5,945
Transactions in Period [Abstract]
Transferred to assets held for sale	0
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(164)
Goodwill, Ending Balance	5,781
Accumulated impairment losses, Ending Balance	0
Goodwill, Net, Ending Balance	5,781
Operating Segments [Member] \| Changyou [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, Beginning Balance	181,529
Accumulated impairment losses, Beginning Balance	(70,447)
Goodwill, Net, Beginning Balance	111,082
Transactions in Period [Abstract]
Transferred to assets held for sale	(83,470)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(479)
Goodwill, Ending Balance	97,580
Accumulated impairment losses, Ending Balance	(70,447)
Goodwill, Net, Ending Balance	$ 27,133

Taxation (Applicable Income Tax Rate) (Details)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Taxation (Applicable Income Tax Rate) (Details)	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Unified income tax rate	25.00%
High and New Technology Enterprises [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate	15.00%
Preferential income tax rate period (years)	3 years
Software Enterprise [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate	12.50%
Preferential income tax rate period (years)	3 years
Income tax exemption period beginning with first profitable year	2 years
Tax rate reduction rate	50.00%
Software Enterprise [Member] \| Sohu New Momentum [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate	12.50%
Preferential income tax rate period (years)	3 years
Tax rate reduction rate	50.00%
Software Enterprise [Member] \| Gamespace [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate	12.50%
Preferential income tax rate period (years)	3 years
Tax rate reduction rate	50.00%
Key National Software Enterprise [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate	10.00%
Key National Software Enterprise [Member] \| AmazGame [Member]
Income Tax and Tax Rate [Line Items]
Preferential income tax rate		10.00%	10.00%

Taxation (PRC Withholding Tax on Dividends) (Details) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Withholding tax on dividends [Line Items]
Withholding income tax rate for dividends, foreign invested enterprises to foreign holding companies	10.00%
Changyou [Member]
Withholding tax on dividends [Line Items]
Deferred tax liabilities related to withholding tax	$ 26.2
HONG KONG
Withholding tax on dividends [Line Items]
Preferential withholding tax rate on dividends, foreign invested enterprises	5.00%

Taxation (PRC Value-Added Tax and U.S. Corporate Income Tax) (Details)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016
Taxation [Abstract]
Value-added tax rate	6.00%
U.S. corporate income tax rate	35.00%

Commitments and Contingencies (Contractual Obligation) (Details) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	$ 426,500
Purchase of content and services - video [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	196,173
Purchase of cinema advertisement slot rights [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	109,550
Purchase of bandwidth [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	57,881
Operating lease obligations [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	25,692
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - PC games [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	15,750
Purchase of content and services - others [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	9,884
Expenditures for operating rights for licensed games with technological feasibility - mobile games [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	3,866
Purchase of fixed assets [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	2,261
Expenditures for titles in game development [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	1,035
Fees for operating rights for licensed games in development - mobile games [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	589
Others [Member]
Contractual Obligation [Line Items]
Total contractual obligations	$ 3,819

VIEs (VIEs Consolidated within Sohu Group, Basic Information for Principal VIEs and Subsidiaries of Principal VIEs) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Nov. 04, 2016	Oct. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Aggregate amount of loans due from related parties			$ 9.3
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital and PRC statutory reserves			60.2
High Century [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 4.6
High Century [Member] \| Dr. Charles Zhang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			80.00%
High Century [Member] \| Wei Li [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			20.00%
Heng Da Yi Tong [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.2
Heng Da Yi Tong [Member] \| Dr. Charles Zhang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			80.00%
Heng Da Yi Tong [Member] \| Wei Li [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			20.00%
Sohu Internet [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.6
Sohu Internet [Member] \| High Century [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Donglin [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.5
Donglin [Member] \| Sohu Internet [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Tianjin Jinhu [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 0.5
Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Ye Deng [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			50.00%
Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Ye Deng [Member] \| Subsequent Event [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Transferred equity interest to new shareholders, percentage		50.00%
Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Xuemei Zhang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			50.00%
Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Xuemei Zhang [Member] \| Subsequent Event [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage	50.00%
Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Xiufeng Deng [Member] \| Subsequent Event [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage	50.00%
Guangzhou Qianjun [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 3.3
Guangzhou Qianjun [Member] \| Tianjin Jinhu [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Focus Interactive [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.6
Focus Interactive [Member] \| Heng Da Yi Tong [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Sogou Information [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 2.5
Sogou Information [Member] \| High Century [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			45.00%
Sogou Information [Member] \| Xiaochuan Wang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			10.00%
Sogou Information [Member] \| Tencent [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			45.00%
Gamease [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.3
Gamease [Member] \| High Century [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Guanyou Gamespace [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.5
Guanyou Gamespace [Member] \| Changyou Star [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Shanghai ICE [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 1.2
Shanghai ICE [Member] \| Gamease [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			100.00%
Wuhan Baina Information [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Registered capital			$ 3.0
Wuhan Baina Information [Member] \| Changyou Star [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			60.00%
Wuhan Baina Information [Member] \| Yongzhi Yang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage			40.00%

VIEs (VIEs Consolidated within Sohu Group, Financial Information) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,092,085	$ 1,073,879	$ 1,092,085	$ 1,073,879	$ 1,245,205	$ 876,340
Accounts receivable, net	204,748		204,748		273,617
Prepaid and other current assets	274,701		274,701		158,890
Assets held for sale	101,786		101,786		0
Long-term investments, net	68,861		68,861		62,093
Fixed assets, net	525,899		525,899		508,692
Intangible assets, net	33,593		33,593		55,415
Goodwill	69,688		69,688		154,219
Other non-current assets	25,546		25,546		39,315
LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable	163,843		163,843		129,025
Accrued liabilities	335,046		335,046		309,657
Receipts in advance and deferred revenue	128,943		128,943		135,385
Liabilities held for sale	3,236		3,236		0
Long-term accounts payable	17,272		17,272		4,600
Long-term taxes payable	33,199		33,199		24,732
Net revenue	410,582	522,090	1,238,672	1,470,988
Net income /(loss)	(42,039)	93,174	(77,886)	100,058
Net cash provided by operating activities			214,224	357,463
Net cash provided by /(used in) investing activities			(9,046)	(108,492)
Net cash provided by financing activities			(327,591)	(43,146)
Consolidated VIEs [Member]
ASSETS:
Cash and cash equivalents	141,830		141,830		131,270
Accounts receivable, net	92,071		92,071		135,925
Prepaid and other current assets	93,237		93,237		101,951
Assets held for sale	12,062		12,062		0
Intercompany receivables due from the Company's subsidiaries	221,842		221,842		140,396
Total current assets	561,042		561,042		509,542
Long-term investments, net	15,189		15,189		15,960
Fixed assets, net	5,176		5,176		7,362
Intangible assets, net	14,977		14,977		18,266
Goodwill	35,838		35,838		36,351
Other non-current assets	6,499		6,499		12,057
Total assets	638,721		638,721		599,538
LIABILITIES:
Accounts payable	11,505		11,505		23,757
Accrued liabilities	84,379		84,379		79,012
Receipts in advance and deferred revenue	48,764		48,764		55,319
Liabilities held for sale	2,452		2,452		0
Other current liabilities	157,346		157,346		141,247
Intercompany payables due to the Company's subsidiaries	182,537		182,537		175,178
Total current liabilities	486,983		486,983		474,513
Long-term accounts payable	0		0		2,858
Long-term taxes payable	13,986		13,986		0
Intercompany payables due to the Company's subsidiaries	20,420		20,420		21,717
Total liabilities	521,389		521,389		$ 499,088
Net revenue	228,599	309,866	675,281	926,460
Net income /(loss)	$ 5,338	$ (45,863)	20,854	(63,402)
Net cash provided by operating activities			20,306	17,450
Net cash provided by /(used in) investing activities			1,061	(11,182)
Net cash provided by financing activities			$ 0	$ 2,286

VIEs (VIEs Consolidated within Sohu Group, Summary of Significant Agreements Currently in Effect) (Details)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016
Sogou Technology [Member] \| Shareholders of Sogou Information [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Powers of attorney term	10 years
Sogou Technology [Member] \| Sogou Information [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement term	10 years
Business cooperation agreement term	10 years
Sogou Technology [Member] \| Sogou Information [Member] \| Shareholders of Sogou Information [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Business operation agreement term	10 years
Video Tianjin [Member] \| Shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Powers of attorney term	10 years
Call option agreement, exercise price
Video Tianjin [Member] \| Tianjin Jinhu [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement term	10 years
Video Tianjin [Member] \| Tianjin Jinhu [Member] \| Shareholders of Tianjin Jinhu [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Business operation agreement term	10 years
AmazGame [Member] \| Shareholders of Gamease [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Powers of attorney term	10 years
AmazGame [Member] \| Gamease [Member] \| Shareholders of Gamease [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Business operation agreement term	10 years
AmazGame [Member] \| Guanyou Gamespace [Member] \| Shareholders of Gamease [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of exchange equity interests due to contributions to registered capital of equity	100.00%
Gamespace [Member] \| Shareholders of Guanyou Gamespace [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Powers of attorney term	10 years
Percentage of exchange equity interests due to contributions to registered capital of equity	100.00%
Gamespace [Member] \| Guanyou Gamespace [Member] \| Shareholders of Guanyou Gamespace [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Business operation agreement term	10 years
Beijing Baina Technology [Member] \| Wuhan Baina Information [Member] \| Changyou Star and Yongzhi Yang [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Call option agreement, exercise price	At the lower of RMB1.00 (approximately $0.15) or the lowest purchase price permissible under PRC law
Sohu Era [Member] \| Sohu Internet [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Exclusive technology consulting and service agreement term	2 years

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Treasury Stock) (Details) - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Sohu [Member] \| Common Stock [Member]
Equity, Class of Treasury Stock [Line Items]
Shares repurchased	0	0

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu's 2000 Stock Incentive Plan) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based compensation expense	$ 13,170,000	$ (2,302,000)	$ 16,147,000	$ 28,465,000
Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Plan expiration date			Jan. 24, 2010
Share-based compensation expense			$ 0
Cash received under share incentive plan			$ 0
Sohu 2000 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Common Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized for issuance	9,500,000		9,500,000
Award vesting period			4 years
Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan			10 years

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu's 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, Narrative) (Details) - Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Jul. 02, 2010
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan	10 years
Plan expiration date	Jul. 01, 2020
Shares available for grant	360,930
Common Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares authorized for issuance		1,500,000

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu's 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, Stock Option Activity, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Feb. 07, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	May 01, 2016	Feb. 07, 2015
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based compensation expense		$ 13,170	$ (2,302)	$ 16,147	$ 28,465
Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Stock Options [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted in period	253,250			253,000
Number of share options vested	253,250			197,000
Total fair value of share options vested	$ 10,800
Share-based compensation expense		$ 5,300	$ 1,700	$ 3,600	$ 13,300
Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Stock Options [Member] \| Common Stock [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of options granted						13,000	1,068,000
Exercise prices of option granted						$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Installments of stock options granted				Four equal installments
Award vesting period				4 years

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu's 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, Stock Option Activity) (Details)
$ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands

9 Months Ended

Feb. 07, 2016

Sep. 30, 2016

USD ($)

Years

$ / shares

Closing stock price | $ / shares

$ 44.25

Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] | Stock Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of Shares, Outstanding, Beginning Balance

Number of Shares, Granted

253,250

253,000

Number of Shares, Exercised

(56,000)

Number of Shares, Forfeited or expired

Number of Shares, Outstanding, Ending Balance

197,000

Number of Shares, Vested, Ending balance

253,250

197,000

Number of Shares, Exercisable, Ending balance

197,000

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Granted | $ / shares

$ 0.001

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercised | $ / shares

0.001

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Ending balance | $ / shares

0.001

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Vested, Ending balance | $ / shares

0.001

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercisable, Ending balance | $ / shares

$ 0.001

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Outstanding, Ending balance | Years

8.35

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Vested, Ending balance | Years

8.35

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Exercisable, Ending balance | Years

8.35

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Outstanding, Ending balance | $

^[1]

$ 8,717

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Vested, Ending balance | $

^[1]

8,717

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Exercisable, Ending balance | $

^[1]

$ 8,717

[1]	The aggregated intrinsic value in the preceding table represents the difference between Sohu's closing stock price of $44.25 on September 30, 2016 and the nominal exercise prices of the stock options.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu's 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, Restricted Share Unit Activity) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based compensation expense	$ 13,170	$ (2,302)	$ 16,147	$ 28,465
Sohu 2010 Stock Incentive Plan [Member] \| Restricted Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of Units, Unvested, Beginning balance			32
Number of Units, Granted			11
Number of Units, Vested			(12)
Number of Units, Forfeited			(9)
Number of Units, Unvested, Ending balance	22		22
Number of Units, Expected to vest thereafter			17
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Unvested, Beginning balance			$ 70.24
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Granted			51.00
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Vested			56.83
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Forfeited			63.45
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Unvested, Ending balance	$ 70.61		70.61
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Expected to vest thereafter	$ 68.96		$ 68.96
Share-based compensation expense	$ 400	600	$ 1,100	1,800
Unrecognized compensation expenses	700		$ 700
Unrecognized compensation expenses, weighted average period for recognition (in years)			7 months 6 days
Fair value of restricted share units vested	$ 200	$ 300	$ 500	$ 700

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Dec. 31, 2015

Aug. 22, 2014

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 13,170

$ (2,302)

$ 16,147

$ 28,465

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member]

^[1],[2]

180

(1,230)

$ 2,505

5,706

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan

10 years

Plan expiration date

Oct. 19, 2020

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan

10 years

$ 200

$ (400)

$ 1,400

$ 3,500

Unrecognized compensation expense

9,618,000

12,209,000

$ 7,100

Unrecognized compensation expense, weighted average period for recognition (in years)

4 months 2 days

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of shares authorized for issuance

41,500,000

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of options granted for which performance targets had been set

38,441,000

32,537,008

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Vesting upon Service Period and Achievement of Performance Targets [Member]

9,618,412

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of options granted, removed as a condition of vesting upon Sogou's IPO

31,241,000

980,000

Number of options granted for which performance targets had been set

25,337,008

Number of options vested and exercisable

22,923,259

Accumulated number of share options exercised

22,918,596

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Vesting upon Service Period and Achievement of Performance Targets, Part One [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

30,021,750

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Vesting upon Service Period and Achievement of Performance Targets, Part Two [Member]

Four equal installments

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

1,219,250

Sogou [Member] | Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Vesting upon Completion of Sogou's IPO and Expiration of All Underwriters' Lockup Periods [Member]

Two to four installments

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

7,200,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Five equal installments

[1]	Compensation expense for Sogou share-based awards also includes compensation expense for Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses.
[2]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan, Share Option Activity) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] - Share Options [Member] shares in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 Years $ / shares shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of Shares, Outstanding, Beginning Balance	12,209
Number of Shares, Granted	2,337
Number of Shares, Exercised	(3,800)
Number of Shares, Forfeited or expired	(1,128)
Number of Shares, Outstanding, Ending Balance	9,618
Number of Shares, Vested, Ending balance, and expected to vest thereafter	2,360
Number of Shares, Exercisable, Ending balance	5
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Beginning balance \| $ / shares	$ 0.369
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Granted \| $ / shares	0.001
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercised \| $ / shares	0.001
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Forfeited or expired \| $ / shares	0.001
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Ending balance \| $ / shares	$ 0.468
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Outstanding, Ending balance \| Years	6.58

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan, Share Option Assumptions) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member] - Share Options [Member]	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 $ / shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Weighted average expected option life	7 years
Dividend yield	0.00%
Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Average risk-free interest rate	1.90%
Exercise multiple	2
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)	0.00%
Volatility rate	43.00%
Fair value	$ 3.18
Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Average risk-free interest rate	2.77%
Exercise multiple	3
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)	12.00%
Volatility rate	50.00%
Fair value	$ 3.93

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan, Share Option Assumptions, Narrative) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member]	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Contract life of the option	10 years
Share Options [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Contract life of the option	10 years
Estimated dividend yield	0.00%
Share Options [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Exercise multiple	2
Estimated forfeiture rate	0.00%
Share Options [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Exercise multiple	3
Estimated forfeiture rate	12.00%
Share Options [Member] \| Employees [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Exercise multiple	2
Estimated forfeiture rate	12.00%
Share Options [Member] \| Management [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Exercise multiple	3
Share Options [Member] \| Management [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Estimated forfeiture rate	0.00%
Share Options [Member] \| Management [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Estimated forfeiture rate	1.00%

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Apr. 14, 2011

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Dec. 31, 2015

Mar. 31, 2011

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Share Options [Member]

^[1],[2]

180,000

(1,230,000)

2,505,000

5,706,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 3,094

$ 0

$ 300,000

$ 700,000

3,190,000

3,664,000

Unrecognized compensation expenses, weighted average period for recognition (in years)

$ 100,000

3 months

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of shares authorized for issuance

12,000,000

Sogou's ordinary shares previously held by Sohu

8,800,000

Sogou's newly-issued shares

3,200,000

Sogou's newly-issued shares, price per share

$ 0.625

Sogou's newly-issued shares, value

$ 2,000,000

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of options granted for which performance targets had been set

10,705,000

10,705,500

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Vesting upon Completion of Sogou's IPO and Expiration of All Underwriters' Lockup Periods [Member]

3,189,500

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

2,400,000

Five equal installments

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 0

8,290,000

Number of options granted for which performance targets had been set

Four equal installments

8,290,000

Number of options vested and exercisable

8,232,500

Accumulated number of share options exercised

7,512,500

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of options vested and exercisable

15,000

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Minimum [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Fixed exercise price of ordinary share

$ 0.001

Sogou [Member] | Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Maximum [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Fixed exercise price of ordinary share

$ 0.625

[1]	Compensation expense for Sogou share-based awards also includes compensation expense for Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses.
[2]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement, Share Option Activity) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] - Share Options [Member] shares in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 Years $ / shares shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of Shares, Outstanding, Beginning Balance	3,664
Number of Shares, Granted	58
Number of Shares, Exercised	(532)
Number of Shares, Forfeited or expired	0
Number of Shares, Outstanding, Ending Balance	3,190
Number of Shares, Vested, Ending balance, and expected to vest thereafter	790
Number of Shares, Exercisable, Ending balance	732
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Beginning balance \| $ / shares	$ 0.623
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Granted \| $ / shares	0.625
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercised \| $ / shares	0.625
Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Ending balance \| $ / shares	$ 0.623
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Outstanding, Ending balance \| Years	6.03

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement, Share Option Assumptions) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sohu Management Sogou Share Option Arrangement [Member] - Share Options [Member]	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 $ / shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expected forfeiture rate (post-vesting)	0.00%
Weighted average expected option life	6 years
Dividend yield	0.00%
Minimum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Average risk-free interest rate	2.01%
Exercise multiple	2
Volatility rate	43.00%
Fair value	$ 2.56
Maximum [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Average risk-free interest rate	2.15%
Exercise multiple	3
Volatility rate	47.00%
Fair value	$ 3.31

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sogou Inc. Share-based Awards, Option Modification) (Details) - Sogou [Member] - Sogou 2010 Share Incentive Plan [Member]	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Incremental compensation expense \| $	$ 0
Ordinary Shares [Member] \| Share Options [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Accumulated number of share options early exercised \| shares	11,370,000

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Tencent Share-based Awards Granted to Employees Who Transferred to Sogou with Soso Search-related Businesses) (Details)

1 Months Ended

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

May 31, 2014

Sep. 30, 2016

USD ($)

Sep. 30, 2015

USD ($)

Sep. 30, 2016

USD ($)

Sep. 30, 2015

USD ($)

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Tencent [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member]

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Stock split, conversion ratio

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Sogou [Member] | Tencent [Member] | Tencent Share-based Awards Related to Soso [Member] | Restricted Share Units [Member]

^[1],[2]

180,000

(1,230,000)

2,505,000

5,706,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

(38,458)

$ (900,000)

800,000

$ 1,500,000

Unrecognized compensation expenses, weighted average period for recognition (in years)

$ 300,000

1 year 5 months 5 days

Sogou [Member] | Tencent [Member] | Tencent Share-based Awards Related to Soso [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Restricted Share Units [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of shares authorized for issuance | shares

53,100

[1]	Compensation expense for Sogou share-based awards also includes compensation expense for Tencent restricted share units that Tencent had granted to employees who transferred to Sogou with the Soso search-related businesses.
[2]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Changyou's 2008 Share Incentive Plan) (Details) - Changyou [Member] - Changyou's 2008 Share Incentive Plan [Member]	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2009 shares	Sep. 30, 2016 shares	Dec. 31, 2008 shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Award vesting period		4 years
Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan		10 years
Plan expiration date		Aug. 31, 2018
Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares granted		15,000,000
Ordinary Shares [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Shares reserved for future issuance			2,000,000
Shares reserved for future issuance as result of stock split	20,000,000
Stock split, conversion ratio	10
Ordinary Shares [Member] \| Restricted Share Units [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of shares granted		4,614,098

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Share-based Awards Granted before Changyou's IPO, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Changyou [Member] | Changyou's Share-based Awards Granted before IPO [Member]

^[1]

$ 7,202,000

$ (3,465,000)

9,340,000

$ 7,529,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 0

[1]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Share-based Awards Granted after Changyou's IPO, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Changyou [Member] | Changyou's Share-based Awards Granted after IPO [Member] | Restricted Share Units [Member]

^[1]

7,202,000

(3,465,000)

9,340,000

7,529,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

22,000

(300,000)

66,000

(300,000)

Unrecognized compensation expenses, weighted average period for recognition (in years)

44,000

$ 44,000

7 months 17 days

Fair value of restricted share units vested

$ 0

$ 700,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou's Share-based Awards Granted after IPO [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Restricted Share Units [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

1,581,226

Award vesting period

4 years

[1]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Share-based Awards Granted after Changyou's IPO, Restricted Share Unit Activity) (Details) - Changyou [Member] - Changyou's Share-based Awards Granted after IPO [Member] - Restricted Share Units [Member] shares in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 $ / shares shares
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Number of Units, Unvested, Beginning balance	20
Number of Units, Granted	0
Number of Units, Vested	0
Number of Units, Forfeited	0
Number of Units, Unvested, Ending balance	20
Number of Units, Expected to vest thereafter	20
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Unvested, Beginning balance \| $ / shares	$ 14.25
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Unvested, Ending balance \| $ / shares	14.25
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value, Expected to vest thereafter \| $ / shares	$ 14.25

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Jun. 01, 2016

Nov. 02, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Jul. 28, 2016

Jun. 01, 2015

Feb. 16, 2015

Nov. 02, 2014

Jun. 27, 2014

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member]

^[1]

$ 7,202,000

(3,465,000)

$ 9,340,000

7,529,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan

10 years

Plan expiration date

Jun. 30, 2024

Shares available for grant

2,808,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of share options vested

329,000

450,000

Total fair value of share options vested

$ 3,200,000

$ 4,700,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Class A Restricted Share Units [Member]

$ 7,200,000

$ (3,200,000)

$ 9,300,000

$ 7,700,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

2,416,000

Award vesting period

4 years

$ (17,000)

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]

$ 0

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Shares reserved for future issuance

6,000,000

2,000,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of ordinary shares converted to options from restricted share units

100,000

1,998,000

2,400,000

Exercise prices of option granted

$ 0.01

Number of share options vested

Four equal installments

Award vesting period

4 years

510,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Class A Restricted Share Units [Member] | Class A Restricted Share Units [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

16,000

[1]	The negative amount resulted from re-measured compensation expense based on the then-current fair value of the awards on each reporting date as well as a true-up of share-based compensation expense for forfeited share options and restricted share units for Sogou and Changyou share-based awards.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan, Share Option Activity) (Details)
$ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands

9 Months Ended

Jun. 01, 2016

Nov. 02, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

USD ($)

Years

$ / shares

Closing price

$ 44.25

Changyou [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Closing price

13.63

Changyou [Member] | ADS [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Closing price

$ 27.25

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of Shares, Vested, Ending balance | shares

329,000

450,000

Changyou [Member] | Changyou 2014 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Share Options [Member] | Class A Ordinary Shares [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Number of Shares, Outstanding, Beginning Balance | shares

450,000

Number of Shares, Granted | shares

329,000

Number of Shares, Exercised | shares

(269,000)

Number of Shares, Forfeited or expired | shares

Number of Shares, Outstanding, Ending Balance | shares

510,000

Number of Shares, Vested, Ending balance | shares

510,000

Number of Shares, Exercisable, Ending balance | shares

510,000

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Beginning balance

$ 0.01

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Granted

0.01

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercised

0.01

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Outstanding, Ending balance

0.01

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Vested, Ending balance

0.01

Weighted Average Exercise Price, Exercisable, Ending balance

$ 0.01

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Outstanding, Beginning balance | Years

8.84

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Outstanding, Ending balance | Years

8.32

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Vested, Ending balance | Years

8.32

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years), Exercisable, Ending balance | Years

8.32

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Outstanding, Beginning balance | $

^[1]

$ 5,580

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Outstanding, Ending balance | $

^[1]

6,942

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Vested, Ending balance | $

^[1]

6,942

Aggregate Intrinsic Value, Exercisable, Ending balance | $

^[1]

$ 6,942

[1]	The aggregated intrinsic value in the preceding table represents the difference between Changyou's closing price of $27.25 per ADS, or $13.63 per Class A ordinary share, on September 30, 2016 and the nominal exercise prices of the share options.

Sohu.com Inc. Shareholders' Equity (Sohu Video Share-based Awards, Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Sep. 30, 2016

Sep. 30, 2015

Jan. 04, 2012

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

$ 13,170,000

$ (2,302,000)

$ 16,147,000

$ 28,465,000

Sohu Video [Member]

Sohu Video [Member] | Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member]

^[1]

$ 149,000

99,000

$ (447,000)

199,000

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Maximum term of share rights granted under stock incentive plan

10 years

Plan expiration date

Jan. 03, 2021

Sohu Video [Member] | Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

Shares reserved for future issuance

25,000,000

Sohu Video [Member] | Video 2011 Share Incentive Plan [Member] | Ordinary Shares [Member] | Share Options [Member]

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]

16,368,200

Four equal installments

Number of options vested

4,972,800