toutiao

In August 2012, Beijing ByteDance Technology Co., Ltd. launched the first version of its main product Toutiao.

The content on Toutiao comes from different sources. At first, a large portion of content was created from the Internet. Now, Toutiao currently has partnerships with over 20,000 traditional media outlets, which make up 10% of its feed, and 800,000 new media content creators.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-news-reads-you-in-chinaand-people-cant-get-enough-of-it-1503570085 |title=The News Reads You in China—and People Can't Get Enough of It |newspaper=WSJ |access-date=2017-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430070516/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-news-reads-you-in-chinaand-people-cant-get-enough-of-it-1503570085 |archive-date=2019-04-30 |url-status=live |last1=Yuan |first1=Li }}

In 2012 and 2013, Toutiao had two earlier rounds of funding by Susquehanna International Group (SIG) Asia Investment and Yuri Milner.

In 2014, Sequoia Capital led its Series C funding of US$100 million at a valuation of US$500 million, followed by Sina Weibo.

In 2016, Toutiao's number of daily active users reached 78 million.{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/12/technology/china-toutiao-news-app/index.html|title=Toutiao: China's $11B app that wants to organize the world's information|last=Wang|first=Alec Macfarlane and Serenitie|date=2017-06-12|website=CNNMoney|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630060656/http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/12/technology/china-toutiao-news-app/index.html|archive-date=2017-06-30|url-status=live}}

As of September 2017, Toutiao had 120 million daily active users, and was reported to be valued at US$20 billion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.recode.net/2017/12/20/16761708/2017-startups-funding-billion-valuation-company|title=57 startups became unicorns this year|last=Wang|first=Alec Macfarlane and Serenitie|date=2017-06-12|website=Recode|access-date=2017-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222054546/https://www.recode.net/2017/12/20/16761708/2017-startups-funding-billion-valuation-company|archive-date=2017-12-22|url-status=live}}

In 2019, publishers were reporting 20%+ of their traffic from Toutiao {{Cite web|url= https://digiday.com/media/facebook-traffic-flood-receded-publishers-look-smaller-traffic-sources/|title=Facebook traffic flood receded|date=19 December 2019 }}

In 2018 the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) asked Toutiao to increase its moderation and demanded that a particular account that SAPPRFT described as "vulgar" be removed from the service.{{cite web|last=Meng|first=Jing|url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2141124/chinese-media-regulator-clamps-down-toutiao-news-site-posting-vulgar-content|title=Chinese media regulator clamps down on Toutiao news site for posting vulgar content |newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=2018-04-10|accessdate=2021-01-30}}

In 2021, Toutiao had 150 million daily active users, with an average of 87 minutes per user per day.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Craig |date=2018-03-10 |title=23 Interesting Toutiao Facts and Statistics |url=https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/toutiao-facts-statistics/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=DMR |language=en-us}}

Toutiao uses algorithms to select different content for individual users. It uses machine learning systems for personalized recommendation that surfaces content which users have not necessarily signaled preference for yet.

Using natural language processing and computer vision, Toutiao extracts entities and keywords as features from each piece of content. When a user first opens the app, Toutiao makes a preliminary recommendation. Toutiao then fine-tunes its models with users' interactions with the app.{{Cite web|url=https://syncedreview.com/2017/05/26/1-day-countdown-industry-spotlights-on-global-machine-intelligence-summit-2017/|title=Synced Review {{!}} 1 Day Countdown: Industry Spotlights on Global Machine Intelligence Summit 2017|last=Review|first=Synced|date=2017-05-26|website=Synced Review|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330211632/https://syncedreview.com/2017/05/26/1-day-countdown-industry-spotlights-on-global-machine-intelligence-summit-2017/|archive-date=2018-03-30|url-status=live}}

Toutiao launched its video channel in May 2015. Creators can upload their short videos, and the algorithm of Toutiao will recommend videos to users.

In 2016, videos on Toutiao are played 1 billion times per day, making Toutiao China's largest short video platform at the time.{{Cite news|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2016-09/22/content_26861823.htm|title=Toutiao aims to allocate 1 billion yuan to improve quality of online videos|newspaper=China Daily|access-date=2015-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104162950/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2016-09/22/content_26861823.htm|archive-date=2017-01-04|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://business.sohu.com/20160921/n468876085.shtml|title=Toutiao's Zhang Yiming:short video is the tuyere to next content entrepreneurship, we want All in!|newspaper=SOHU|access-date=2015-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922135315/http://business.sohu.com/20160921/n468876085.shtml|archive-date=2016-09-22|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=http://news.163.com/16/0923/11/C1L7GGLD00014AEE.html |title=Zhang Yiming's second battleground for Toutiao's video |newspaper=NetEase |access-date=2016-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104233756/http://news.163.com/16/0923/11/C1L7GGLD00014AEE.html |archive-date=2017-01-04 |url-status=live }}

In July 2016, Toutiao launched a new channel called Q&A, an open discussion community. Registered users can share their experiences and opinions in specific fields under questions and interact with other users. Toutiao then recommends answers to users in its news feed and Q&A channel.

Toutiao Q&A matches questions with interested users using natural language processing and user profiling, and automatically invites them to answer certain questions.

Toutiao identifies fake news by using a combination of human reviewers along with automated analysis of posts and comments.{{Cite news |last=Knight |first=Will |title=This Chinese media giant is using machine learning to go after Facebook's lunch |language=en |work=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603351/the-insanely-popular-chinese-news-app-that-youve-never-heard-of/ |access-date=2017-06-27}}

90% of Toutiao users are under 30 years old.{{Cite web|url=http://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/Mark-Greeven/New-wave-of-digital-entrepreneurs-rises-in-China|title=Mark Greeven: New wave of digital entrepreneurs rises in China|website=Nikkei Asian Review|access-date=2017-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611115654/http://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/Mark-Greeven/New-wave-of-digital-entrepreneurs-rises-in-China|archive-date=2017-06-11|url-status=live}} The average user spends 76 minutes on the site every day, resulting in 1.3 billion articles read every day.{{Cite news|url=https://36kr.com/p/5042308.html|title=Toutiao's CEO, so look at the future of the media industry|newspaper=36KR|access-date=2016-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116030132/http://36kr.com/p/5042308.html|archive-date=2016-01-16|url-status=live}}

In 2013, Toutiao provided a self-publishing platform to media organizations. The platform later evolved into Toutiaohao Account.

As of 2016, more than 350,000 individuals and organizations have started their Toutiaohao Accounts, including administration departments, media organizations, companies and individual writers. They publish 150,000 articles and videos on Toutiao every day.{{Cite news|url=http://technews.tw/2016/12/08/toutiao-china-global-market/|title=4 years to win the next 74 million active users, Toutiao ready to enter the global market|access-date=2016-12-08|newspaper=科技新报|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225023431/https://technews.tw/2016/12/08/toutiao-china-global-market/|archive-date=2017-12-25}}

Using location-based notification-pushing techniques, Toutiao initiated a corporate social responsibility project called “Toutiao Alert for Missing Persons”. People can send detailed information of the missing person, including their last known location and time. After a verification process, Toutiao will push notification messages of missing persons to its users within the possible range of their whereabouts.

As of 2016, 700 missing persons have been recovered as a result of Toutiao's users offering clues and notifying authority.

As of February 2017, over 1000 missing individuals have been found using this feature.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chinanews.com/sh/2017/02-28/8162026.shtml|title=头条寻人志愿者联盟在京成立 志愿者超168万(图)-中新网|last=chinanews|website=www.chinanews.com|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302083958/http://www.chinanews.com/sh/2017/02-28/8162026.shtml|archive-date=2017-03-02|url-status=live}}

Toutiao's research arm, Toutiao AI Lab, was founded in March 2016 and is headed by Ma Wei-Ying.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/04b55fdc-28b7-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7|title=Toutiao touts AI for individual news in vast China market|website=Financial Times|date=9 May 2017 |access-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922190843/https://www.ft.com/content/04b55fdc-28b7-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7|archive-date=2019-09-22|url-status=live}} Its main research areas include Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Computer Vision and Human-Computer Interaction.{{Cite web|url=http://www.yicai.com/news/5261368.html|title=围剿与反围剿 BAT大战今日头条_第一财经|website=www.yicai.com|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223110907/http://www.yicai.com/news/5261368.html|archive-date=2018-02-23|url-status=live}}

Xiaomingbot, an AI-powered robot writer co-developed by Toutiao Lab and Peking University, creates articles automatically. It published 450 articles over the course of the 2016 Summer Olympics.{{Cite web |url=https://futurism.com/the-future-of-writing-chinas-ai-reporter-published-450-articles-during-rio-olympics/ |title=The Future of Writing? China's AI Reporter Published 450 Articles During Rio Olympics |date=26 August 2016 |access-date=2017-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214004512/https://futurism.com/the-future-of-writing-chinas-ai-reporter-published-450-articles-during-rio-olympics/ |archive-date=2017-02-14 |url-status=live }}

In its domestic market, Toutiao has made an investment to Imaginechina.{{Cite web |url=https://36kr.com/p/5050353.html |title=今日头条宣布战略投资图库东方IC，欲抢占图片版权竞争优先权 |date=August 2016 |access-date=2017-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213045049/http://36kr.com/p/5050353.html |archive-date=2017-02-13 |url-status=live }}

Toutiao has entered Japan, the US, Brazil and the Southeast Asian region.{{Cite web |url=https://36kr.com/p/5056784.html |title=张一鸣：今日头条会通过Build&Buy的方式在海外扩张，将推新项目"头条问答" |date=17 November 2016 |access-date=2018-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331173437/https://36kr.com/p/5056784.html |archive-date=2018-03-31 |url-status=live }}

In October 2016, Toutiao gave India's local-language app Dailyhunt 25 million dollars in its series D funding round.{{Cite web |last=Malavika Velayanikal |title=China's ByteDance leads $25m funding for Indian local language news app Dailyhunt |url=https://www.techinasia.com/dailyhunt-raises-25-million-funding-from-bytedance-of-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204203718/https://www.techinasia.com/dailyhunt-raises-25-million-funding-from-bytedance-of-china |archive-date=2016-12-04 |access-date=2017-06-21 |website=Tech in Asia |language=en-US}}

Toutiao obtained a controlling stake of the Indonesian local-language news app Babe in 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://technode.com/2017/04/07/toutiao-series-d-1-billion-usd/|title=Toutiao pockets $1 billion on the road to becoming China's next BAT|date=2017-04-07|website=TechNode|access-date=2017-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613011655/http://technode.com/2017/04/07/toutiao-series-d-1-billion-usd/|archive-date=2017-06-13|url-status=live}}

Toutiao's parent company, Bytedance owns TopBuzz in the US and Brazil.

In January 2017, Toutiao acquired the video creation app Flipagram for an undisclosed amount.{{Cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/01/31/flipagram-sold-chinas-toutiao/97319870/ |title=More Chinese will be watching Flipagram videos |website=USA Today |access-date=2017-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803161805/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/01/31/flipagram-sold-chinas-toutiao/97319870/ |archive-date=2017-08-03 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Romain Dillet |title=Chinese news reading app Toutiao acquires Flipagram |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/chinese-news-reading-app-toutiao-acquires-flipagram |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211235617/https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/chinese-news-reading-app-toutiao-acquires-flipagram/ |archive-date=2017-02-11 |access-date=2017-02-13 |website=Techcrunch|date=February 2017 }}

After Toutiao's series D financing round at the end of 2016, with investments worth US$1 billion by Sequoia Capital, CCB International and other institutions, Toutiao is reported to be valued at more than 11 billion US dollars.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sohu.com/a/132534777_131976|title=今日头条这次也上头条了 D轮融资估值超110亿美元|website=www.sohu.com|access-date=2017-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331035829/http://www.sohu.com/a/132534777_131976|archive-date=2018-03-31|url-status=live}}

On June 5, 2014, Guangzhou Daily sued Toutiao for violating its copyright.{{Cite web |url=http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140605/40608690_0.shtml |title="今日头条"因"搬运"《广州日报》稿件被诉 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330212740/http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140605/40608690_0.shtml |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }} The case was settled 13 days later.{{Cite web |url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2014-06-18/17119444202.shtml |title=今日头条暂时化解侵权危机：原告方撤诉 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330211408/http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2014-06-18/17119444202.shtml |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }}

On September 16, 2014, the National Copyright Administration affirmed that Toutiao had violated the copyright of traditional media outlets by crawling and serving contents from its own servers; however, the administration also noted that Toutiao has already deleted the relevant contents and started negotiating for a formal license.{{Cite web |url=http://media.people.com.cn/n/2014/0916/c120837-25666707.html |title=国家版权局确认"今日头条"侵权:积极整改是好现象 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330211818/http://media.people.com.cn/n/2014/0916/c120837-25666707.html |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }}

On December 29, 2017, the Cyberspace Administration of China accused Toutiao and Phoenix News of “disseminating pornographic and vulgar information, had serious issues of misguiding people, and had an evil influence on the ecosystem of online public discourse”,{{Cite web |date=29 December 2017 |title=China's cyber watchdog raps top news apps Toutiao, Phoenix News over vulgar content |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinas-cyber-watchdog-raps-top-news-apps-over-vulgar-content |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330212832/http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinas-cyber-watchdog-raps-top-news-apps-over-vulgar-content |archive-date=2018-03-30 |access-date=2018-03-30 |website=The Straits Times |publisher=Reuters}} listing “reposting news in violation of regulation, clickbait, and seriously disrupting the order of information flow on the network” as its main offense.{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-42520804 |title=加強網管？中國今日頭條、鳳凰新聞APP遭下令整改 |newspaper=BBC News 中文 |date=30 December 2017 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407200447/https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-42520804 |archive-date=2020-04-07 |url-status=live }} In response, Toutiao halted its content update for six of its channels for 24 hours, shut down its “Society” channel, banned thousands of accounts,{{Cite web |url=https://www.hk01.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/145776/%E9%81%AD%E7%B6%B2%E4%BF%A1%E8%BE%A6%E7%B4%84%E8%AB%87-%E4%BB%8A%E6%97%A5%E9%A0%AD%E6%A2%9D-%E6%95%B4%E6%94%B9-%E9%97%9C%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E9%A0%BB%E9%81%93-%E5%B0%81%E7%A6%8136%E5%80%8B%E8%87%AA%E5%AA%92%E9%AB%94%E5%B8%B3%E8%99%9F |title=遭網信辦約談「今日頭條」整改：關社會頻道 封禁36個自媒體帳號 |date=January 2018 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816194822/https://www.hk01.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/145776/%E9%81%AD%E7%B6%B2%E4%BF%A1%E8%BE%A6%E7%B4%84%E8%AB%87-%E4%BB%8A%E6%97%A5%E9%A0%AD%E6%A2%9D-%E6%95%B4%E6%94%B9-%E9%97%9C%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E9%A0%BB%E9%81%93-%E5%B0%81%E7%A6%8136%E5%80%8B%E8%87%AA%E5%AA%92%E9%AB%94%E5%B8%B3%E8%99%9F |archive-date=2018-08-16 |url-status=live }} and started recruiting 2000 more censors.{{Cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c39547dc-f107-11e7-b220-857e26d1aca4 |title=Tencent, Toutiao hiring more censors as China increases scrutiny |newspaper=Financial Times |date=5 January 2018 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143745/https://www.ft.com/content/c39547dc-f107-11e7-b220-857e26d1aca4 |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }}

Toutiao has a feature called “people you might know”. In December 2017, users noticed that the feature consistently showed them their contacts, despite not giving permission to either Toutiao or WeChat to read them. When questioned, Toutiao states that it “does not possess, collect or process users' private data”, and “reading users' contacts with their consent is a common practice in mobile Internet business”.{{Cite web |url=http://cj.sina.com.cn/article/detail/1238118491/544368 |title=未经授权就私自访问用户通讯录？今日头条却这样解释 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821212242/https://cj.sina.com.cn/article/detail/1238118491/544368 |archive-date=2019-08-21 |url-status=dead }} On January 11, 2018, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology asked Toutiao to “abide by the laws and regulations, and only collect necessary personal information legally in a justified manner”.{{Cite web |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-01/12/c_1122250046.htm |title=涉嫌侵犯用户隐私 工信部约谈百度、支付宝、今日头条 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160600/http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-01/12/c_1122250046.htm |archive-date=2018-01-12 |url-status=dead }}

On March 29, 2018, CCTV-2 reported that Toutiao showed advertisements violating the Advertising Law for dubious or counterfeit products, targeting cities where regulations aren't as tight. One company, Tong Ren Tang was forced to delist its genuine products by the CFDA on December 29, 2017, due to the complaints filed by those who bought the advertised counterfeits. Tong Ren Tang stated that they have never advertised on Toutiao, and have filed complaints against such illegal advertisements with Toutiao before, however in some cases Toutiao rejected their complaints, instead responding “Why don't you advertise? If you advertise your genuine products, there won't be any counterfeits,” and when requested for the identities of the advertisers, Toutiao responded “you as a company have no rights to know that”.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

During an interview, employees of Toutiao says that as long as one's willing to pay more advertising fee, they don't care if the product is good or not, and if the product is not certified, they'll fake one, and they'll help set up a landing page with legal content which will guide the visitor to the illegal advertisement, and find a proxy company so that when the regulators find out, they can blame the proxy.{{Cite web |url=http://shanghai.xinmin.cn/xmsq/2018/03/30/31373648.html |title="今日头条"终于上了"头条"！无视监管，竟做起这种"黑勾当"！害苦2.4亿用户 |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330145234/http://shanghai.xinmin.cn/xmsq/2018/03/30/31373648.html |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }}

Toutiao responded on March 30 saying that the relevant advertisers and proxies have been banned from Toutiao indefinitely, and the employees have been fired. Toutiao says it will soon implement a warning when users are navigating away from contents controlled by Toutiao.{{Cite web |url=http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0330/c229589-29899172.html |title=今日头条回应广告违规"二跳" |access-date=2018-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330211252/http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0330/c229589-29899172.html |archive-date=2018-03-30 |url-status=live }}

• Xigua Video (formerly Toutiao Video), Toutiao's online video platform
• Artificial intelligence
• Recommender system
• Machine learning
• Algorithm

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