A large number of US lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — are not convinced that TikTok is independent of Beijing despite being headquartered outside China. ByteDance did not respond to AFP queries about its revenues, including how much it earns from TikTok. The Chinese company says it has more than 150,000 employees in almost 120 cities around the world.

International focus

A US trading firm reportedly owns 15% of TikTok-owner ByteDance, a stake potentially worth more than $15 billion. US trading investing in stocks firm Susquehanna reportedly owns 15% of TikTok-owner ByteDance, a stake that is potentially worth more than $15 billion. While TikTok has undoubtedly empowered creators, it has also faced criticism. Some argue that the platform’s algorithm can be unpredictable, making it difficult for creators to consistently reach their audience.

It also supports online search to obtain the latest information from the internet. But with such a large number of engaged users and a steep upward trajectory, it also shouldn’t have too much trouble finding ways to turn a profit. These concerns have been echoed by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies — including by the FBI director this week — as well as regulators elsewhere. A privately held company, ByteDance does not release revenue and profit figures, but media estimates of its earnings put it on par with some of the biggest firms in the world. Marvel Snap is a popular mobile card game, incorporating character from the Marvel universe. Players draw decks of 12 cards, and play for control of three locations.

• Amidst the coronavirus crisis, while many companies are busy cutting down their workforce, ByteDance in April 2020, announced that it is hiring staff to fill 10,000 vacant posts in different domains.
• ByteDance has also introduced various monetization features to help creators earn money from their content.
• ByteDance also serves as the parent company of several popular social media and news apps.

Features

With TikTok, rebranded from the joining of Musical.ly and Douyin, Bytedance has a global hit. The company says it racked up more downloads in the US than Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube in both September and October, and TikTok now has over half a billion people worldwide using it monthly. The app has been downloaded nearly 80 million times in the US, with even the likes of Jimmy Fallon giving it high-profile endorsements. The company says it now routes all of its US traffic through infrastructure in the United States, and that it is deleting previously collected data. It has also said that Douyin employees do not have access to TikTok’s US user data.

There are several types of TikTok ads, including In-Feed ads, Brand Takeovers, and Branded Hashtag Challenges. ByteDance is the developer of the video-sharing social networking services and apps TikTok and Douyin, the Chinese-specific counterpart to TikTok. Talking about valuation, ByteDance is reportedly worth over US$100 billion as of May 2020 based on recent prices for the Chinese company’s shares on secondary markets, according to the Financial Times. Thus now ByteDance is valued over one-third higher than that in November 2018, when it was valued at around $ 75-$78 billion. ByteDance took a larger piece of the digital advertising market than fellow Chinese companies like Tencent and Baidu during the first half of 2019. ByteDance has overtaken Baidu to become the second-largest performer in China.

The Rise of Short-Form Video

Unlike traditional social media platforms, where popularity often depends on pre-existing follower counts, TikTok’s “For You” page allows anyone’s video to go viral, regardless of their follower count. TikTok’s popularity in the U.S. and other Western markets is a testament to ByteDance’s ability to create products that resonate with global audiences. The company’s success has inspired other Chinese tech companies to expand their horizons and pursue global ambitions. Moreover, ByteDance will need to continue to innovate and adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape.

In 2020, TikTok was among hundreds of Chinese apps barred in India after deadly clashes on the country’s border with China. New Delhi said at the time the bans were intended to defend against threats to its sovereignty. These concerns have been echoed by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies — including by the FBI director this week — as well as regulators elsewhere. The app has been a diplomatic hot potato between the United States and China since the administration of former president Donald Trump, who once wanted to ban the app. AFP, along with more than 100 fact-checking organisations, is paid by TikTok and Facebook parent Meta to verify videos that potentially contain false information.

Popular products

Zhang Yiming’s vision has always been to inspire creativity and enrich life. These investments enable continuous innovation and global expansion. Bytedance’s rise in China has best forex calendar not been without conflict or controversy, however. The company’s most notable achievement is in gaining its level of success without being propped up by any of the country’s internet mega-giants like Tencent, Alibaba, or Baidu. Alibaba was turned down this year after expressing interest in an investment or acquisition, according to Reuters, while Tencent is said to have divested itself of a small stake in Bytedance some time ago.

He graduated from Nankai University in 2005, initially pursuing microelectronics before switching to software engineering. His early career saw him working at various startups, where he honed his skills and developed a deep understanding of the tech industry. It has also said that Douyin employees do not have access to TikTok’s US user data. TikTok’s activtrades forex broker CEO has told Congress that the firm has never been asked by the Chinese government for US user data nor has it provided it.

ByteDance has faced several challenges, particularly related to privacy concerns and data security, especially with TikTok in international markets. Governments in countries like the U.S. and India have raised concerns over ByteDance’s data practices, which has led to regulatory scrutiny and, in some cases, platform bans. ByteDance generates revenue primarily through targeted advertising across its platforms.

Increased regulatory barriers were also introduced against the company because of tensions between the United States and China. National security concerns about the collection of user data led the U.S. government to ban the app from being installed on government-issued devices. Legislation was also introduced that could lead to a national ban of the platform altogether.

This means Uber has unexpectedly lost its long-held title of the world’s most valuable tech startup to a low-profile challenger from China. Tokopedia is a shopping service based out of Indonesia, but it had apps available to users in the U.S. prior to the law. Also available from the company was Tokopedia START, an app that appears to have been made for a 2022 tech conference. (I certainly hadn’t.) Lark offers a collection of business apps and services.

The incident prompted Zhang to publicly apologize for “publishing a product that collided with core socialist values,” and it highlights the potential pitfalls of operating online platforms in China. Tencent has had its clashes with the government, too, most recently being hit by restrictions on video game releases and play time. But if Bytedance can make the most of what appears to be a greater agility in operating overseas, that could be a key advantage for the younger company. TikTok recently attained the traditional social network rite of passage of having Facebook brazenly rip it off. It amassed a large following, which caught ByteDance’s attention, just as it had its sights set on expanding its short-form social media app, Douyin, globally.

Other apps

• While Marvel itself might be an American property, the game is operated by Nuverse, which is a ByteDance subsidiary.
• ByteDance’s innovative algorithms personalize content for users, making it highly engaging.
• In June of 2020, the popular video-sharing app launched TikTok for Business as a way for brands to run their own ads within the app.
• This technology is the key to the success of its products, offering a customized feed that keeps users engaged for longer periods.
• Tencent is the most valuable company of any sort in Asia, but Bytedance has beaten it to the punch with TikTok, allowing it to claim a degree of greater influence on the wider social networks of the world.

Like other “lite” apps, this one is designed for phones with limited RAM, data, or unstable connections. TikTok has become a world-wide phenomenon, capturing the attentions of one billion users. 170 million of those users happen to be in the U.S., which makes you wonder how a looming ban of the app will affect TikTok’s bottom line.

More in Tech

Others have raised concerns about the potential for exploitation, particularly of young creators. ByteDance has also made strategic acquisitions to expand its reach and capabilities. In 2021, it acquired Moonton Technology, a mobile game developer, for a reported $4 billion. This move signaled the company’s ambition to become a major player in the gaming industry. Like many successful entrepreneurs, Zhang’s journey was not without its challenges.