(Yicai Global) Jan. 30 -- Shares of Sohu.Com Inc. plunged nearly 16 percent in New York after the online Chinese video firm announced a wider net loss, marking nine straight negative quarters.

Sohu [NASDAQ:SOHU] closed at USD39.01 a share yesterday, recovering from an almost 17 percent dive earlier in the day. The closing price marked the biggest decline since October 2013.

Its unaudited net loss widened to USD295 million in the fourth-quarter under generally accepted accounting principles, compared with USD66 million a year earlier, Beijing-based Sohu said on Jan. 29. Revenue soared 24 percent to USD510 million.

Final-quarter advertising revenue slumped 27 percent on the year to USD72 million, mainly due to a decline in income generated from video and real estate advertising.

Sohu will slash budgets this year as its most expensive video content is not necessarily the most popular, Chairman Charles Zhang said in a teleconference with analysts. The company expects to maintain similar volumes of traffic, but see a further increase in paid subscribers.

The firm has also sped up efforts to improve algorithms as competition among news apps intensifies, Zhang said. He remains confident that users of Sohu's news app will grow and the business unit will improve overall.