CHINA'S third-largest Internet portal owner and video site operator, Sohu Inc, said profits were up 72 percent in the second quarter with higher advertising revenue.

Profits in the three months ended June were up to US$22 million from US$12.8 million a year ago and sales added 33 percent annually to US$339 million, the company said in a statement today.

Online advertising revenue rose 49 percent from a year ago to US$146 million, making up 43 percent of total income.

"Our online video has shown fast growth in users, traffic and revenue in the first seven months and we've been stepping up investment in both the mobile sector and search unit," said Chairman and chief executive officer Charles Zhang.

China's online video viewers grew 4.5 percent from the end of last year to 389 million by the end of June, according to China Internet Network Information Center.

Zhang will take the post of acting chief executive officer of Sohu's video unit in an effort to strengthen development of the unit to lure more users and advertisers, the company announced earlier this month.