(Caixin) Qutoutiao, a Chinese news aggregator app, had been removed from the country’s Android app stores, after being singled out on Thursday in a high-profile annual consumer right show broadcasted by state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) for allegedly selling dubious ads.
U.S.-listed Qutoutiao Inc., the operator behind the namesake app, issued an apology on the social media platform Weibo almost immediately after the show finished broadcasting. The letter said it has set up a special working group to look into the issues raised by the CCTV show.
The company is one of at least eight companies, including U.S. fast food chain Burger King, that were targeted by CCTV’s annual consumer rights show aired on Thursday night. The show, known as “315” in reference to global consumer rights day on March 15, was postponed this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Qutoutiao was accused of selling dubious and suspicious ads containing false information or information that greatly overstated the effectiveness of relevant products. Also, the app was accused of hosting content that baited users to enter illegal sites such as gambling sites.
Founded in 2016 and listed in the U.S. two years later, Qutoutiao touted itself as a rival to China’s top news aggregator app, Toutiao, operated by TikTok owner ByteDance. The app, however, is far behind Toutiao both in terms of active users and revenue. It heavily relies on selling ads, with ad sales totaling 5.6 billion yuan ($800 miilion) in 2019, accounting for 97% of its revenues for the year.
Source: Caixin by Guan Cong and Mo Yelin / Jul 17, 2020 03:35 PM
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