China Weighs Opening Tencent, ByteDance Content to Search, Sources Say
- MIIT may ask Tencent to allow Baidu, others to search WeChat
- If implemented, it could shake up the online advertising arena
China is considering asking media companies from Tencent Holdings Ltd. to ByteDance Ltd. to let rivals access and display their content in search results, a move that could further eradicate online barriers and shake up the internet advertising arena.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is debating rules to make hundreds of millions of articles on Tencent’s WeChat messaging app available via search engines like Baidu Inc.’s, people familiar with the matter said. It’s also considering making short videos from ByteDance’s Douyin -- TikTok’s Chinese cousin -- show up in searches, one of the people said. Regulators are polling companies for feedback and it’s unclear whether they will go ahead, they said, asking to not be identified discussing private information.