Tag: TikTok

It has been several weeks since the fight over the acquisition of TikTok, and after so many negotiations with different small and big companies, it is reported that Oracle is the one who is winning over the competition, and now the White House will indeed support Oracle’s new deal to partner with parent-company ByteDance in order to keep TikTok running in the US.

As reported by CNBC:

“Approval of Oracle’s deal to become a “trusted technology provider” for ByteDance’s TikTok will be announced on Tuesday afternoon. Oracle confirmed Monday that it had struck a deal with the popular video-sharing app’s Chinese parent company.”

It is obvious that the details of the deal are not yet clarified to the public, nor it will be announced so soon. But the belief is that rather than taking over ownership of TikTok, Oracle, along with its consortium partners in its bid, will ‘license’ TikTok’s technology from ByteDance. That, it’s believed, will appease both the US and the Chinese Government’s concerns.

Regarding a blog post by Social media Today, In the EO, issued on August 6th, the White House identified two key elements of concern with TikTok: 

• That TikTok collects data on US citizens, which can then be accessed by the CCP
• That TikTok censor’s information critical of the CCP, and could be used to spread pro-China propaganda

At the time, TikTok argued that the accusations were largely baseless, but nevertheless, the EO stood, which then lead to rival bids from Microsoft, Oracle, Walmart, and Triller, among others, seeking to buy out the platform and separate it from its Chinese roots.

Whether those goals will be achieved in the Oracle deal is unclear – and at least one US Senator has already advised the Government to reject the Oracle/TikTok proposal due its failure to address these key concerns.

Some have also suggested that President Trump’s personal relationship with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison may come into play, while it’s also worth noting that Trump’s original motivation for action against TikTok may not have been tied by data security at all.

As President Trump has ordered, TikTok has to shut down the app after 90 days from the order, which was Aug. 14th, and by that time, TikTok must be bought by one of the companies such as Microsoft which showed interest in buying TikTok.

Trump said TikTok would have to “close down” in the US. Yet, the general manager of TikTok’s business in the US Vanessa Pappas has told Bloomberg that the app will continue to operate in the country regardless of the potential ban.

“We believe we have multiple paths forward to ensure that we continue to provide this amazing app experience to the millions of Americans who come to rely on it every day,” Pappas told Bloomberg. Pappas also oversees TikTok’s business in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

As Engadget has reported, TikTok has fought against claims that it could be forced to hand over data to the Chinese government, saying it has an American CEO and that it doesn’t take orders from China. Meanwhile, Microsoft confirmed that it had begun discussions with TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to acquire the US operations, and Oracle is reportedly in similar talks as well. After all these controversies and issues, it does not seem like TikTok is going to go anywhere, whether it’s through an acquisition by a major American company or dogged persistence on the part of TikTok’s US employees, it appears the app won’t be leaving the country anytime soon. We shall wait and watch to see what would be the future of this popular app and which company is going to win its acquisition.

TikTok is losing its popularity since the latest ios update alerted users that TikTok was copying their clipboard, and many users have complained about the way it spies on their data and information or snoops on the data they have on other applications.

After that, countries such as India started banning TikTok, and now the US is even considering banning the app. These controversies and issues have made, so many users to boycott the ap and quit using it entirely. But for those who are still using TikTok and do not give a damn about these matters, I have some good news.

For those who are looking to maximize their TikTok presence, TikTok has this week published some new pointers on how to make the best use of its analytics tools, which are available on TikTok Pro accounts.

How to get TikTok analytics tools?

As I mentioned above, in order to access the new TikTok analytics options, you first need to switch to a pro-TikTok account. Follow the steps below to convert your account to a professional one:

• From your profile page, open the Privacy and Settings tab
• Choose “Manage My Account”
• Tap “Switch to Pro Account”

From there, you need to select the category for your pro account – ‘Creator’ or ‘Business.’ You then enter the topic category for your profile, and any additional details as requested (mostly basic), and that’s it – you now have a TikTok Pro account.

Now that you are done, and your account is a TikTok pro account, you can access the TikTok analytics section as below:

“Once you’ve switched, you’ll find your analytics in the “Pro Account” page of your settings. On a desktop, you can access the Analytics page by hovering over your profile photo in the upper-right corner of your screen and clicking “View Analytics.” You can also download and export your Analytics directly to your computer when you access TikTok from your desktop device.”

The Social Media Today website later clarified the TikTok analytics options in more detail, which are brought to you below. Keep reading to find out everything about the metrics on TikTok analytics.

There are three elements to TikTok analytics:

Overview – The Overview section provides a general summary of your account’s performance over time. “You’ll see the total number of times your videos were viewed, the number of users who follow your account, and the number of times your profile was viewed.” 

Content – Here, you can see a listing of your uploads from the past seven days, in order of newest to oldest videos. You can also see videos that are trending on your account. “These are the top nine videos with the fastest growth in view numbers over the past seven days.” 

Followers – And the last tab is ‘Followers,’ which displays your follower count over time so you can view trends in audience growth. You can also access an overview of total likes, comments, and shares that your videos have received. 

As with all social platforms, TikTok’s analytics data provides guidance as to how you can improve your performance and maximize your content efforts. 

It is almost known by most of the people all over the world that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok, as we wrote about earlier this week as well. But today, Microsoft has added some more details and clarities to the purchase after CEO Satya Nadella has talked to President Trump about the acquisition.

Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions to explore the purchase of TikTok in the United States. While they are unlikely to need the help of business acquisition loans to complete this purchase like smaller businesses might, should they be able to close on a deal, the cost of acquiring this growing platform will surely be huge.

The company notes that CEO Satya Nadella discussed the matter with President Trump and that it plans to solidify a deal no later than September 15th.

If Microsoft succeeds in buying TikTok, It would be a very grand move by the company, and the acquisition would mean Microsoft would own and operate TikTok in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The company also added that it might bring on other American investors as minority stakeholders.

“Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns,” the company wrote. “It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.”

How would the TikTok experience change after the acquisition?

Microsoft has made a promise to make the TikTok experience something better after the acquisition if succeeded. They said that they’ll add the best security and privacy to TikTok for users, one it never had before.

Microsoft could add some stability to the mobile app in the U.S., where ByteDance has been criticized for having nebulous ties to the Chinese government.

Another goal Microsoft is looking for is that it is aiming to Microsoft also says it’s aiming to “ensure transparency” with TikTok users while also maintaining “appropriate security oversight” by the governments where it’s operating the service.

When would the acquisition discussions end?

Microsoft says that in any case, their discussions about the acquisition from ByteDance would complete no later than September 15th, 2020 and that it is keeping discussion ongoing with the President and the U.S. government.

There is also the possibility that these negotiations would fall apart like so many other huge talks between huge companies, but this deal is particularly strange since it seems to be coming at the behest of a President who has talked of banning TikTok.

Microsoft is said to be in Talks to Buy TikTok, as Trump Weighs Curtailing App.

The discussions come as TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese company is under scrutiny by the White House and lawmakers.

If this deal is made, Microsoft would be the owner of TikTok’s operations in the United States without any hands of China on it anymore. A deal would give the software company a popular social media service and relieve U.S. government pressure on the Chinese owner of the video-sharing app.

And also, a deal with Microsoft could potentially help extract ByteDance from the political war between the U.S. and China.

On Friday, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, who leads the committee, briefed the president on the divestment plan. But it remains unclear what the president will do, including whether the U.S. would apply a divestment order to all of TikTok’s American operations and whether its actions would affect the app’s global business as well.

It is not hard to estimate that this deal would not be cheap at all. Any deal would likely be expensive. ByteDance’s valuation recently stood at around $100 billion.

Trump, on Friday night, said he would ban TikTok from the U.S., and had the authority to do so by executive order or under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He was signing the document on Saturday, he said.

“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” the president told reporters. Asked when it would happen, he said: “Soon, immediately. I mean essentially immediately.”

Earlier in the day, he said that “we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok.”

According to Bloomerang, It’s also possible that other potential buyers could come forward, said another person familiar with the discussions. Microsoft’s industry peers Facebook Inc., Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Alphabet Inc. — fit the profile of potential suitors, though all are under antitrust scrutiny from U.S. regulators, which would likely complicate a deal.

A purchase of TikTok would represent a huge coup for Microsoft, which would gain a popular consumer app that has won over young people with a steady diet of dance videos, lip-syncing clips, and viral memes. The company has dabbled in social-media investments in the past but hasn’t developed a popular service of its own in the lucrative sector. 

TikTok has made another new and interesting move for business by rolling an interactive brand promotion option, which they have called “Gamified Branded Effects.”

TikTok has announced the new update on their Facebook, officially earlier today. Flip the creative script and engage the TikTok community by integrating your brand into an interactive effect that users can make their own.

These new Branded Effects are available in more than 20 formats and customizable to your campaign, Gamified Branded Effect invites creators to interact with branded elements through facial expressions, poses and other movements for a fun and competitive video shooting experience. You can also build branded games into your TikTok clips.

From now on, there is no need to make boring ads. Make (Gamified) TikToks, which is both interesting and much more effective. 

All TikTokers would have access to this new option soon and within TikTok’s self-serve ad platform, which it opened up to all businesses earlier this month.

The idea would turn TikTok into even more fun and interactive platform and can be a very engaging TikTok experience.

However, you would also suspect that there would be some creative limits to such. If a lot of brands end up using certain templates, for example, the process could start to feel stale pretty quickly – but through specific audience targeting and customization, there, ideally, won’t be a significant crossover with similar campaigns.

For sure, a lot of you are thrilled to use these “Gamified Branded Effects,” especially brand and business owners. We recommend every advertiser to start using this new feature as soon as it became available because that is surely going to make a revolution on their advertising efforts. ‘

The United States president, Donald Trump, is getting some help from Facebook’s social media platforms in order to force people to boycott TikTok. 

Trump’s presidential campaign is paying for ads on Facebook and its other platforms, urging supporters to sign a petition banning TikTok, as the White House ramps up the rhetoric to restrict the video app in the U.S.

“TikTok has been caught red-handed by monitoring what is on your phone’s Clipboard.” This is what the ad’s title says on behalf of Trump, and then on the next line, the ad asks users to “sign the petition now to ban TikTok.”

The ads then direct users to a survey where they have to input personal information, including their email address and mobile number.

Why did Trump target TikTok?

The ads, which according to Bloomberg, appeared in users’ feeds from Friday, come just weeks after teens on TikTok were said to have played a role in contributing to lower-than-expected attendance for President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa. Prior to the event, which Trump boasted of having nearly 1 million sign-ups, many teenagers posted videos of their rally registrations with the intention of not showing up.

The ads were paid for by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee and primarily target users aged 18 to 64, with the largest percentage of views seemingly coming from election battleground states such as Texas and Florida, according to Facebook’s ad library.

One other reason why Trump is insisting on banning TikTok is that he sees this movement and boycott as a way to retaliate against China’s approach to tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Anyways, the United States is not the first country that is approaching to ban TikTok in their country, and India has already banned TikTok and 59 other chines apps in their region. India banned TikTok calling it “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity” of India. On the corporate side, in the U.S., Wells Fargo recently banned employees from downloading TikTok on their company devices and instructed those who have it installed to delete it immediately, citing “concerns about TikTok’s privacy and security controls and practices,” among others.

It has been a few months since TikTok has been working on this new feature, and now after months, TikTok has officially opened up a “self-serve” ad platform that lets companies buy and manage ad campaigns directly, a move to lure the ad dollars of small and medium-sized businesses.

This Self-Serve Ad Platform is a part of TikTok’s recently launched TikTok for business, which is a new platform dedicated to marketers and advertising.

As explained by TikTok:

“The global availability of TikTok’s self-serve advertising solutions gives marketers the tools to tap into the creativity of the TikTok community, reach new audiences, and optimize their marketing campaigns with an easy-to-use platform.”

TikTok said these companies have access to creative tools to make ads, flexible budgets allowing for spending adjustments and performance targeting. TikTok said advertisers and ads have to undergo a review and approval process.

The self-serve platform’s placement tool lets businesses choose between allowing TikTok to place ads for them in any location, or specifically selecting where they want their ads to run.

How does TikTok’s Self-Serve Ad platform work?

If you are one of those social media addicts or professional marketers who have previously used other platform’s ad campaign, the TikTok Self-Serve Ad platform would be very easy to work with for you.

The platform is nothing complicated, and like all other social media ad platforms, when you open the page, you’ll see the usual ad set-up options, including campaign and ad groups, targeting options, budget, and scheduling, etc. The platform also includes options like video templates and auto-editing tools.

The platform also has very creative and automated tools that allow you to add a combination of still and video content for your campaigns.

For sure, targeting and scheduling tools are two other important tools included in the platform to make it easy for advertisers to create TikTok ads.

Good news for small businesses from the TikTok’s ad platform:

After the launch of Self-Serve Ad Sales, it Pledges $100 million in ad credits for small businesses affected by the pandemic. TikTok has officially announced this in the launch of its Back-to-Business Program, through which it will give out $100 million in ad credits to small businesses around the world that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As most of you may know by now, TikTok has banned TikTok and 59 other chines apps as tensions continue to flare between India and China over the disputed Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. 

TikTok India is now struggling really hard to change the Indian Government’s opinion and unban TikTok with negotiations, but thus far, any negotiations have been halted due to the conflict.

India was TikTok’s biggest market outside of China, while more recent reports have suggested the app could have been up to around 200 million active Indian users at the time of it being banned.

Reuters reports that it has seen correspondence between the Indian Government and TikTok in which the latter insists that the Chinese Government has not been requesting user data from the app and that even if it did, TikTok–which is not available in China at all–would not comply.

“I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users,” CEO Kevin Mayer assured the Indian Government last week. “If we do receive such a request in the future,” he added, “we would not comply.”

TikTok says the data is stored in Singapore, while the Associated Press now reports that it is shifting that data to Ireland.

Many analysts say that it is very hard to fully control and ban TikTok in India because the Government can do nothing about the apps which are already installed on users’ devices. Still, analysts argue that it will be very difficult to fully ban TikTok in India because it cannot be erased from devices that had downloaded it prior to the ban. That leaves pundits suggesting that the move by India was meant to send a geopolitical message less than it was about fears of Beijing tapping into India user data.

According to social media today, India’s decision to sever potential links to the Chinese Government, via Chinese-originated apps, highlights the rising concerns around data gathering, and how much these data can be used by foreign governments. And that could become a critical point of debate, as more questions are raised as to how much data is available, and what, potentially, that could mean if it were to be used against us.

These removals point to the rising angst around data warfare, and how both social platforms and user data can be turned against citizens for political benefit. That’s a significant shift in perspective for policymakers, many of whom, as demonstrated in Mark Zuckerberg’s Congressional testimony in 2018, have been struggling to get their heads around the full implications of the social media shift. 

India finally banned TikTok along with 59 other mobile phone applications, which are mostly Chinese apps. The ban is applied especially to TikTok, mostly because Indian users wanted it.

The move was taken after several complaints were received by the ministry, alleging theft of users’ data and violations of user privacy. Now, Google and Apple will have to follow the order and remove these apps from the Android and iOS stores.

The Indian Ministry of Information Technology, who authorized the ban today, said it received an “exhaustive recommendation” to ban the 59 Chinese apps from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Furthermore, the ministry also said India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) has also received complaints from users about the privacy and security of the banned apps.

Why India banned these Chinese apps?

Regarding what the Aljazeera website has explained, India’s decision comes as its troops are involved in a tense standoff with Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh in the Himalayas that started last month. India lost 20 soldiers in a June 15 clash that took place approximately 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) above sea level in the Galwan River Valley.

The deaths triggered enormous outrage and street protests in India.

Anti-China sentiment has long simmered in India over accusations of cheap imports flooding the country, but the border clash has brought tensions to the fore with calls being made to boycott Chinese products.

Which Chinese apps are banned in India?

In this section, I want you to have a closer look at which apps India has now banned in the country. Keep up with me to find out more about the apps that are now banned in India.

TikTok, Video Call apps from Xiaomi, two of Alibaba Group’s apps (UC Browser and UC News); Shareit; CM Browser, Club Factory, and ES File Explorer are the biggest names in the list of apps banned by India on Monday night.

Other banned applications are listed in the picture below, by TechCrunch.