The strength of Toutiao mini-programs

ByteDance’s Toutiao (头条) is one of the platforms in China that incorporates mini-program system. However, its development of mini-program is not smooth.

Toutiao is exploring to find its strength for mini-program. Mini-programs of BAT all have their own strengths: in Wechat mini-programs ecosystem, 37% are games and 21% are e-commerce; in Alipay, 53% belongs to daily life services; Baidu mini-programs focus on search-related functions.

In the recent adjustments, Toutiao added mini-game as one of the channels for the main app. ByteDance also set up a specific mini-game department to improve their ability in this category. Apparently, mini-game is the direction for Toutiao’s mini-program.

Many functions of Toutiao’s mini-program are still in internal testing stage. It is expected that Toutiao’s mini-programs will be fully launch around August and September. Let's wait and see if it would bring any impacts to the mini-program market.