TikTok is currently toying with the idea of launching a subscription for an ad-free Tiktok experience. The ad-free subscription will go for Ksh750 ($4.99).
The popular video content company confirmed that it is testing this product but only in a single, English-speaking market outside of the United States.
However, the unveiling of the new ad-free feature depends on the success of the testing that is being undertaken currently.
According to the firm, the aim of the tool is to help advertisers to gauge the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns on the platform.
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Reports indicate that the paid TikTok will come with extra features including access to monetization.
The social media giant under Byte Dance has in the past explored ways to break from its current business model.
Notably, most of TikTok’s revenue is generated by ads.
In 2022, TikTok ad revenues topped $9.9 billion. This was an increase from 2021’s revenue by a margin of 155 percent. The platform continues to grow at a rapid rate signaling its ad revenues will only continue to climb.
Worth noting is that this move comes after Meta is also mulling on the idea of ad-free subscriptions for people in the EU to navigate the bloc’s advertising rules.
Other social media channels that are offering ad free subscriptions include YouTube and X, formerly Twitter.
The Beginnings of TikTok
TikTok app started as three separate apps.
The first was an app called Musical.ly, which launched in Shanghai in 2014.
Consequently, in 2016, Chinese tech giant Byte Dance launched a similar service in China called Douyin.
Douyin attracted one hundred million users in China and Thailand within a year.
On noticing the huge take up of the app, Byte Dance chose to expand under a different brand – TikTok. Therefore, in 2018 Byte Dance bought Musical.ly, folded it in, and began TikTok’s global expansion.
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According to Statista report, as of January 2023, TikTok was the sixth most popular social media app globally, after Meta social media apps (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram), Twitter, YouTube, and WeChat.
Furthermore, according to the latest report from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023, Kenya has the highest TikTok usage rate worldwide.
