Toutiao facts for kids
Website logo 2023
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| Founded | August 2012 |
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| Owner | ByteDance |
| Founder(s) | Zhang Yiming |
| Services | Information recommendation engine |
| Jinri Toutiao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Jinri Toutiao" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters.
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| Simplified Chinese | 今日头条 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 今日頭條 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Today's Headlines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Toutiao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 头条 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 頭條 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Headlines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Toutiao (which means "headlines") or Jinri Toutiao ("Today's Headlines") is a very popular news and information app from China. It's a main product of a company called ByteDance.
This app uses smart computer programs called machine learning algorithms. These programs look at what you like to read and watch. Then, they create a special list of content just for you. This means everyone sees different headlines and stories!
Toutiao is one of China's biggest mobile platforms. It helps people create, collect, and share content. In September 2017, about 120 million people used it every day.
Contents
How Toutiao Started
In August 2012, a company called Beijing ByteDance Technology Co., Ltd. launched the first version of Toutiao.
The content on Toutiao comes from many places. At first, much of it came from the internet. Now, Toutiao works with over 20,000 traditional news groups. They also partner with 800,000 new content creators.
In 2012 and 2013, Toutiao received money from investors. These included Susquehanna International Group (SIG) Asia Investment and Yuri Milner.
In 2014, Sequoia Capital invested US$100 million. This made Toutiao worth about US$500 million. Sina Weibo also invested.
By 2016, 78 million people were using Toutiao every day. In September 2017, this number grew to 120 million daily users. At that time, the company was valued at US$20 billion.
In 2018, a government group asked Toutiao to improve how it checks content. They wanted the app to remove certain accounts.
By 2019, many news publishers said that over 20% of their readers came from Toutiao. In 2021, Toutiao had 150 million daily active users. On average, users spent 87 minutes on the app each day.
Cool Features of Toutiao
How the Algorithm Works
Toutiao uses special computer programs called algorithms. These programs pick different content for each person. They use machine learning to guess what you might like. This includes things you haven't even searched for yet!
The app uses natural language processing (understanding human language) and computer vision (understanding images). It finds important words and ideas in every piece of content. When you first open the app, Toutiao gives you some suggestions. Then, it learns more about what you like as you use the app.
Videos on Toutiao
Toutiao started its video section in May 2015. It's now known as Xigua Video. People can upload short videos there. The Toutiao algorithm then suggests these videos to users.
In 2016, videos on Toutiao were watched 1 billion times every day. This made Toutiao the biggest short video platform in China at that time.
Questions and Answers
In July 2016, Toutiao added a new section called Q&A. This is a place where people can discuss things. Users can share their ideas and experiences. They can also talk with other users. Toutiao then suggests answers to users in their news feed.
The Q&A section uses natural language processing. It also uses user profiles to match questions with people who might be interested. Then, it asks them to answer.
Finding Fake News
Toutiao works to find and stop fake news. It uses a mix of human reviewers. It also uses automated computer analysis. This helps check posts and comments for false information.
Who Uses Toutiao?
Most Toutiao users are under 30 years old. About 90% of them fit this age group. On average, users spend 76 minutes on the app every day. This means about 1.3 billion articles are read daily!
Community for Creators
In 2013, Toutiao made a platform for media groups to publish their own content. This platform later became known as Toutiaohao Account.
By 2016, over 350,000 people and groups had Toutiaohao Accounts. This includes government offices, news companies, businesses, and writers. They publish 150,000 articles and videos on Toutiao every day.
Helping the Community
Toutiao Alert for Missing Persons
Toutiao has a special project called "Toutiao Alert for Missing Persons." It uses location-based alerts. People can send details about a missing person. This includes where and when they were last seen. After checking the information, Toutiao sends alerts to users. These alerts go to people who are near where the person might be.
By 2016, this feature helped find 700 missing people. This happened because Toutiao users gave clues and told the authorities. By February 2017, over 1000 missing people had been found using this helpful tool.
Research and Innovation
Toutiao has a research team called Toutiao AI Lab. It started in March 2016. This team studies things like Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Human-Computer Interaction.
One cool project is Xiaomingbot. This is an AI-powered robot writer. Toutiao Lab and Peking University worked together to create it. Xiaomingbot wrote 450 articles during the 2016 Summer Olympics all by itself!
Global Reach
Toutiao has invested in other companies. For example, it invested in Imaginechina in its home country.
Toutiao has also expanded to other countries. You can find it in Japan, the US, Brazil, and parts of Southeast Asia.
In October 2016, Toutiao invested US$25 million in an Indian app called Dailyhunt. Toutiao also bought a big part of an Indonesian news app called Babe in 2016.
Toutiao's parent company, Bytedance, also owns TopBuzz in the US and Brazil. In January 2017, Toutiao bought a video creation app called Flipagram.
After getting US$1 billion in investments at the end of 2016, Toutiao was valued at over US$11 billion.
See also
In Spanish: Toutiao para niños
- Xigua Video (formerly Toutiao Video), Toutiao's online video platform
- Artificial intelligence
- Recommender system
- Machine learning
- Algorithm
