Everybody in China seems to be getting into the Pinterest clone business these days, so perhaps it was only a matter of time. This morning, Taobao launched its own social photo-sharing platform. Unsurprisingly, it looks and acts a lot like Pinterest:
The site, which you can find at wantu.taobao.com, is called Wantu, or roughly: “Mischievous Rabbit.” I’m not sure what makes the rabbit so mischievous — perhaps it’s his apparent penchant for copying other people’s websites? — but the name does follow in what appears to now be the official Alibaba tradition of giving new products weird animal names.
It isn’t clear what this might mean for the new cooperation between Mogujie, China’s biggest indie Pinterest clone, and eTao, the ecommerce search platform that, like Taobao, is owned by Alibaba.
So, if you were in need of yet another Pinterest clone, uh, now you’ve got it. For the rest of us, this announcement is just further evidence to support the rumor I want to start about a new Alibaba cartoon TV show in which Sky Cat chases around Mischievous Rabbit. Or maybe they team up to fight crime. Either way, Alibaba, if you’re reading this, get to work!
[via Sina Tech]
