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China’s TikTok gets its own web version as user growth plateaus, nearing the country’s total mobile user base

  • Douyin.com contains much of the same functionality as the app, allowing users to search, upload and watch videos and live-streamed content
  • Sister app TikTok has long had its own website to bring in desktop traffic, which ByteDance hopes can stave off slowing growth at home

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A woman speaks on her phone near the logo for Douyin in Beijing on March 31. Photo: AP
Coco Feng
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has launched a web version of its app accessible to desktop users, shifting away from its “mobile-only” strategy as it seeks new growth in a saturated market.

Douyin.com has much of the same functionality as the app, allowing users to search, upload, watch, like and comment on videos and live-streamed content. However, the web version looks more like a traditional video site, with an endless scroll of video thumbnails on the homepage for users to browse. This is in contrast to the app, which forces users to swipe through one video at a time.

The website still relies on the platform’s signature recommendation algorithm, developed by the app’s owner ByteDance and a primary contributor to its success, which displays tailored videos depending on the user and device.

The website is designed to “satisfy users’ needs for different scenarios”, a Douyin representative said.

“Some professors and schools post educational or instructional content that is usually longer than five minutes,” the person added. “The web is a better platform to consume these types of videos.”

Ge Jia, an industry analyst, said the Douyin website is an attempt by ByteDance to stave off plateauing traffic growth as its mobile user base approaches the total number of smartphone users in China.

“It is also encroaching on the turf of traditional video sites, like [Baidu’s] iQiyi and Tencent Video,” Ge said, referencing two of ByteDance’s Big Tech rivals.

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