TikTok ban

After India, the United States will follow suit and ban TikTok

According to a CNN report on July 7, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo revealed in an interview with Fox News this Monday that the U.S. government is “seriously considering” banning Chinese social media applications such as TikTok. He added that the specific details cannot be explored in depth at this time because he cannot make an announcement before the president makes an official statement.

TikTok had previously faced doubts from the US government regarding the theft of user information. TikTok explained that US user data is stored in the United States, while the backup is stored in Singapore, and its data is not subject to Chinese laws. But obviously such a reply still fails to satisfy the U.S. government. Pompeo said: “The U.S. government has been studying this issue for a long time.”

Last week, the Indian government announced the ban on 59 Chinese apps such as TikTok. At present, these apps have basically been removed from Google Play and App Store in India, and apps such as TikTok have also ceased service. Sensor Tower analyst Randy Nelson said that due to this ban, TikTok may “miss 100 to 150 million new downloads in India” in the second half of this year.

According to Forbes magazine, after the Indian ban was issued, US Secretary of State Pompeo welcomed India’s implementation of the broader ban and praised the Indian government’s method of “clearing apps”. If TikTok is also banned by the United States, it will cause even greater losses. After all, the United States is TikTok’s largest revenue market. In June of this year, analysis pointed out that TikTok’s revenue in the US market will reach 500 million U.S. dollars in 2020.

India suspends, TikTok is investigated in Australia

In addition to the poor development of the Indian market, Reuters reported yesterday that TikTok will voluntarily withdraw from the Hong Kong market in China within a few days. On July 7, a TikTok spokesperson confirmed to CNN: “In view of recent incidents, we have decided to stop the operation of the TikTok application in Hong Kong, China.” Douyin will continue to provide services to users in Hong Kong, China.

However, the withdrawal from the Hong Kong market in China seems to have little impact on TikTok. Reuters reported that a person familiar with the matter said that Hong Kong, China is actually a small loss-making market for the company. Data in August 2019 showed that TikTok had only 150,000 users in Hong Kong, China.

In addition, although TikTok just established an Australian office last month, it is still questioned by Australian government officials. A member of the Australian federal parliament requested that the application be banned, and some officials said that “the government will soon conduct an investigation to determine the extent to which TikTok uses user data.”

To this end, TikTok Australia Regional Manager Lee Hunter stated his attitude in a statement: “User privacy and integrity are of the utmost importance to us. We always hope to have the opportunity to meet with decision-makers and discuss issues related to TikTok.”

The prey of other giants

Recently, most of the doubts raised by various countries against TikTok are related to data security. Although TikTok has repeatedly explained that its data center is completely located outside of China, it has not dispelled the doubts of governments.

After Reels was first launched as a test on iOS and Android in Brazil last year, its global promotion has been relatively slow. This feature has been extended to France and Germany last month. Facebook also recently announced the closure of its independent TikTok-style video application Lasso, some speculated that this is due to the upcoming launch of Reels.

Facebook has previously integrated similar features of competing applications into its own services to better compete with it. For example, the Stories feature of Instagram in 2016 was a “near-perfect copy” of Snapchat. In the leaked information last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out that TikTok is similar to Instagram’s Explore tag, which suggests that it may carry part of the company’s attempts to compete with Chinese competitors.

According to reports, after TikTok is banned, Instagram’s Reels function will be extended to India. According to Business Insider reports, Facebook is testing Instagram’s Reels feature in India. Reels is a video editing tool designed to allow people to create TikTok-style 15-second videos that can be shared to their Instagram stories, sent via DM, or posted to a section called Top Reels in the Discover tab.

How does TIKTOK stand out?

Video is increasingly becoming one of the mainstream forms of expression in the current society. Video content is deeply driven by the power of science and technology in the process of dissemination. The genes of technology are commonly embedded in content creation and operation through various forms, including those with marketing attributes, such as AR advertisements.

According to data from the research organization ARtillery Intelligence, global AR advertising revenue reached 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 and is expected to reach 8.8 billion U.S. dollars by 2023. Last year, Snapchat led the AR advertising market with $1.14 billion in revenue. A recent study by JWT Intelligence found that 40% of Gen Z are using AR filters and lenses to express themselves creatively. During the home isolation period of the epidemic, the number of Snapchat user group chats reached a record high, with 163.5 million daily active AR users, demonstrating the huge market potential of AR consumption.

According to Digiday reports, TikTok plans to launch an AR advertising business to quickly improve advertising distribution and content interaction capabilities to compete with Snapchat and Instagram.

TikTok launches new AR ad format

TikTok announced plans to launch an AR-based advertising business in the third quarter of this year to compete with Snapchat. This move will further intensify competition in the AR application field. For TikTok, it is not enough to become the fastest-growing social platform (calculated by downloads). While accelerating user growth and product development, TikTok is enriching its advertising formats to improve the platform’s profitability channels.

eMarketer predicts that the number of TikTok US users will increase by 21.9% this year, reaching 45.4 million; by 2021, this number will exceed 50 million (52.2 million). The TikTok platform has gathered more and more young users. eMarketer quoted Comscore’s data as saying that during the epidemic, TikTok’s U.S. user visits increased sharply, with an increase of 48% between January and March. Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at eMarketer, said: “Many users spend hours on the TikTok platform every day. This proves that TikTok’s scrolling playback is an effective way to increase user stickiness.”

TikTok predicts that this new AR advertising format to be launched will allow users to create videos by themselves and add visual effects in the advertisements to interact with the surrounding environment where users are located. The AR effect will also blend with the physical environment in reality through the smartphone’s camera, which is also a way for brands to integrate digital images into user-built content.

TikTok vs. Snapchat: A new round of confrontation for social media AR applications

When it comes to AR advertising, one has to mention the industry’s leading platform Snapchat. TikTok’s AR advertising function is somewhat similar to Snapchat’s successful camera filter advertisement. Snapchat also uses AR technology to create a visual effect that interacts with the user’s physical environment.

Since 2016, Snapchat has been providing AR filter functions and has won sponsorship from many advertisers including Gatorade and Taco Bell. These advertising models with AR filter effects have been viewed and used by Snapchat users Hundreds of millions of times. According to eMarketer, in 2019, Snapchat had close to 82 million users in the United States, while TikTok had more than 37 million users worldwide at that time.

In terms of platform settings, TikTok has tags and other pages to help users actively discover more content, which makes it easier for the product to spread further. The placement of advertisements on the platform can encourage users to create content and effectively spread their own works. In addition, TikTok content can be saved for a longer period of time, and videos made in this format will remain on the user’s page.

A virtuous circle among AR platforms, users, and advertisers

AR advertisements are favored by advertisers because of their strong interaction and interest. This novel form of advertising can not only enhance the user experience of social media, but also enhance users’ understanding of the brand. In addition, this can also attract more brands’ attention, which is also a way to feed back the platform. AR content created by users is easier to share and spread, helping users expand the scope of social media activities.

Some time ago, Snapchat cooperated with a series of fashion beauty brands to provide AR filters for users to use, while using the popular Snap camera to create a good experience for users. For example, through AR lens, provide users with virtual try-on and virtual makeup services. For users, these are fresh attempts.

Although TikTok’s new advertising format is aimed at Snapchat, during the home isolation period of the epidemic, Snapchat’s user group chats reached the highest number in history, with 163.5 million daily active AR users, showing its leading momentum in the consumer AR field. According to Snapchat’s announcement, active users of AR filters use the product nearly 30 times a day, and the total cumulative usage and views so far have reached 15 billion times. Snap Camera’s downloads in March also increased 10 times, video calls increased by 50% compared to the previous month, and many of them used AR filters.

Carolina Arguelles, head of global product marketing for augmented reality at Snapchat, once said: “Augmented reality technology is in line with future development trends, and it will bring revolutionary changes to many industries.”

On the Snapchat platform, 20% of AR filters are developed by community users. Snapchat said that in 2020, they will provide $750,000 in funding for creators of AR filters. This shows that Snapchat hopes to use the creativity of a new generation of KOLs to consolidate its position as a high-tech AR platform. According to a report released by ARtillery Intelligence, in 2019, Snapchat received $1.14 billion in revenue from the AR advertising industry.

How TIKTOK breaks the upcoming global blockade, AR technology empowers advertising, and the immersive storytelling experience brought by it may revolutionize the inherent way of brand marketing. Currently, Disney and Warner Bros. etc. are using this advertising format with good results. However, the vitality of AR advertising largely depends on whether users, advertisers, and platforms can continue to benefit. Whether AR advertising will evolve into a continuous outlet or a momentary excitement still needs to be verified by facts.