Douyin to Launch Recommendation App Kesong

ByteDance’s short video sharing app Douyin, the Chinese mainland version of TikTok, will launch a brand-new recommendation application called “Kesong.” According to sources, the internal project code for Kesong is “G,” which is positioned as a community of young people’s lifestyles with the slogan: “New lifestyle for young people.” The new app will be launched in the future, as reported by Tech Planet on July 6.

According to information on a Chinese commercial inquiry platform, Beijing Microlive Vision Technology Co., Ltd., the developer of the Douyin app, registered software copyright named “Kesong Android Software” on May 18 of this year.

A second-level website of Douyin with domain kesong.douyin.com has also been found, which is suspected to be the new app’s website, but it cannot be opened yet.

One source revealed that Kesong can be regarded as a Douyin version of Xiaohongshu, which will be attached to Douyin’s ecology, providing synergy and services for the company’s related businesses, such as Douyin e-commerce and local life services.

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In 2021, Douyin launched the function of recommending goods with pictures and texts, indicating that Douyin regarded recommendation as an important development direction for its system. This function aims to attract more people to create content and an ecological link of Douyin livestreaming, short videos, pictures and texts by allowing users to recommend pictures and texts in addition through livestreaming and short videos.

The company then tested the “first-class entrance,” which was located at the original “local” function’s position by default on the homepage, further strengthening the exposure of recommended videos. Besides adding channels to create content, the firm is constantly enriching the related functions of recommending goods.

The function of “experience” has been added to the search display results of the Douyin app, similar to wikihow. This new function can be understood as creators’ sharing of some lifestyle content, including but not limited to practices, knowledge popularization and life, food and other fields. In addition, among some creators who have the function of window-shopping, the platform adds functions like “recommending good products” and “recommending videos” to open up the link from content to e-commerce.