优酷 yōukù / 土豆 tǔdòu

Yōukù is buying rival Tǔdòu Wǎng in a $1B all-stock deal. These are the two largest video hosting sites in China.

优酷 (yōukù) literally "excellent extremely/cool". 优 (yōu) also connotes superior, generous, priority. 酷 (kù) can mean cruel (strong/alcohol radical) or extreme(ly), but also "cool" (perhaps by phonetic loan from English).

土豆网 (tǔdòu wǎng) literally "earth bean net" that is, "potato net". 土豆 is potato, 土 is a pictorial of the earth, grounded. 豆 by itself is bean, part of the familiar 豆腐 dòufu (Tofu). They claim it's a play on the English "Couch Potato".

Business Week: Youku to buy...