Tencent-ByteDance rivalry: Tencent Games takes up top ad spot on China’s TikTok, raising eyebrows
- Move has surprised some netizens given the turf wars and legal tussles between the two tech rivals in recent years
- Tencent and ByteDance lead China’s tech industry in terms of user time spent on their products, but the latter has been gaining ground on older rival
Tencent Holdings has paid for an advert on the splash screen of ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, raising eyebrows amid increasing competition between the two tech giants as the latter moves into gaming and payments.
However, some Chinese netizens were surprised that the Shenzhen-based giant has opted to advertise on the platform of its rising Beijing-based rival, particularly given the turf wars and legal tussles between the two in recent years.
“It’s definitely an interesting development and could mean a sign of an improving relationship, but it could also be just temporary,” said Owen Soh, founder of gaming consultancy Eastlab Consulting.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Tencent spokesman declined to comment beyond confirming that Douyin is one of the promotional channels for its games.
In 2018 Tencent sued ByteDance and an affiliated company for posting defamatory statements, seeking token compensation of one yuan (about 15 US cents). ByteDance then counter-sued Tencent, accusing the latter of using “its dominant market position to eliminate competition”, referring to blocked links and videos.