Alimama to harness Big Data marketing tools

Alibaba is developing Big Data and Cloud Computing services to rival Google and Amazon.

Jack Ma, the ambitious founder of China’s largest online sales platform, has pitted his company against longstanding rivals. Alibaba’s cloud computing app will be the “star of future mobile market” according to Ma, who believes his tailored Ali Cloud services will rival Amazon’s cloud computing offerings.

Firstly, Ali Cloud is significantly cheaper than Amazon Web Service (AWS at 6,452 yuan ($1,049) for a dual-core CPU with 8GB of RAM it is less than half the price of AWS’s 14,212 yuan ($2,312) offering.

Although from a technology standpoint, AWS bests its Chinese rival globally, in China the two companies’ technology is roughly on par. AWS has also had several high profile shutdowns in China, including one instance when Netflix broke down for a whole evening.

Meanwhile, Alimama, the biggest open marketing platform in China, will take on Google in the world of Big Data marketing.

The company’s Data Management Platform (DMP) will allow it to collect, filter and utilise the reams of data held across a number of different categories to implement highly targeted marketing campaigns.

The DMP will link data from online shopping, internet community behaviour, weather, mobile behaviour and third party DSP to help brands integrate online data with real world sales opportunities. China’s largest internet company by far is already making significant strides in online-to-offline (O2O) marketing tactics.

Alimama will also concentrate on creating a big data marketing ecosystem, which will capture data shared about games, food, weather, drinks and even photos to complement its O2O marketing plan.