Douyin Launches Its Fourth Search App

Tech Planet has learned exclusively that after Toutiao Search, Wukong Search, and Lightning Search, Douyin has recently launched its fourth search category independent app, ‘Douyin Search.’ It is reported that the Douyin Search app is a content search engine developed by Douyin.

Unlike the displayed content provided by website service providers such as Baidu, Inc. and Quark, the display content of ‘Douyin Search’ is primarily composed of short videos, graphics, and texts created by bloggers.

Upon entering the app, users can see the search bar and recommended content displayed in a dual-column waterfall layout. By searching for relevant keywords or phrases in the search bar, users can find corresponding short videos and graphic content under the comprehensive channel. Additionally, there are further subdivided search channels for videos, graphic experiences, products, etc., allowing for more precise search results.

From an overall experience perspective, the Douyin search still has areas for improvement. For instance, the accuracy of short video searches needs to be enhanced; currently, it seems that searches can only be done through titles and other textual content, which may make it difficult for users with specific goals to find the videos they truly want. In some cases, search results may be influenced by factors such as user interests and search history, leading to less accurate results. Furthermore, due to the impact of recommendation algorithms and popular content, search results may contain a lot of similar or duplicate content.

Douyin Search not only has an independent search page but also features a video interface where users can watch short videos, live streams, and long videos. Overall, the Douyin Search app feels more like a search product built around the ecosystem of Douyin short videos and graphic content.

Douyin’s development in the search business has not been slow, but the results have not been very ideal, and it can even be described as a case of repeated failures and trying again. Since 2020, Douyin has launched a search app almost every year, currently rolling out a total of four search apps: Toutiao Search, Wukong Search, Lightning Search, and Douyin Search. The first three have not brought any breakthroughs and have all been taken down.

In the competition with traditional search engine giants, the search products developed by Douyin have indeed faced some challenges. First is the issue of user habits; search engines like Baidu, Inc. have built a relatively fixed usage habit in users’ minds over years of development, making the cost of user transition quite high. Second is in terms of technological accumulation; although ByteDance has strong technological capabilities, perfecting search engine technology requires time and a large accumulation of data. Traditional search engines have long-term experience in areas such as algorithm optimization, index scale, and search accuracy.

However, the Douyin Search launched this time is clearly different from the above three search products, avoiding direct competition with Baidu, Inc. and Quark, and taking the route of a short video and graphic content search ecosystem. Compared to Baidu, Inc. and Quark, Douyin possesses abundant video and graphic content, making the Douyin Search app a highly valuable entry point for Douyin users to access information.

SEE ALSO: Douyin Enhances Its Intelligent Search with the Testing of the ‘AI Search’ Feature

Secondly, Douyin has a large user base and a rich content ecosystem. By launching an independent search product, it can better meet users’ needs for information both within the platform and across the broader internet, achieving a closed loop of the content ecosystem.

The essence of search is linking. From a commercialization perspective, Douyin Search not only provides users with the content they want to see but also creates commercial scenarios for e-commerce and local life services.

Due to the relatively stable and normal search traffic, the link is shorter. In different scenarios such as e-commerce, local life, content downloads, and lead management, it can bring more clear business growth opportunities for enterprises and merchants. For example, for local merchants, Douyin search has built an ecological closed loop of ‘watch – search – buy,’ combining user habits with purchasing decisions, improving conversion rates, and supporting various marketing formats, providing merchants with more diverse options. It is an effective tool for marketing cold starts.

Overall, as the fourth search product of Douyin, whether the Douyin Search app can break the deadlock remains to be seen.