According to an article in the magazine TechCrunch, users of the TikTok video app have been able to link to online shops directly from their articles for a few days now. TikTok is a further development of the musical.ly app and is also known in China under the name Douyin. According to the operator Beijing Bytedance Technology (ByteDance), the app, which was only released on August 2, 2018, reached one billion downloads in February 2019.
According to ByteDance, the now introduced possibility to integrate purchase links is a test for the continuous improvement of the video app. The links are displayed as a small shopping cart button directly in the video. In addition, users can store a link to an external website in their profile. If the test is successful, it is to be expected that ByteDance will use the shopping buttons as new marketing options. In addition to user links, brands could also link to their products, which could then be conveniently purchased by the predominantly young user base.
However, according to an announcement made in October 2019, any form of political advertising is still prohibited.
