BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese short video app makers have taken their rivalry overseas, with TikTok facing stiff competition from a newcomer that has surged in popularity abroad — by paying users to keep scrolling.
Zynn, a product of China’s number-two video app maker Kuaishou, launched in May and became the most popular free app in the US Apple App Store just a month later.
With Zynn, Kuaishou is trying to dethrone TikTok, the app by its Beijing-based competitor Bytedance that has become a worldwide sensation.
Zynn’s interface is a near-clone of TikTok, allowing users to view a continuous feed of short videos featuring other users dancing or performing stunts to upbeat music.
But unlike TikTok, Zynn promises more than just entertainment.
Zynn, which is not available in China, rewards users in the US and Canada with cash when they invite friends to download the app — up to $20 per invite, depending on how active the friend is on the app.
Users also earn points for simply watching videos, which can then be converted into cash.
Zynn’s model is familiar to users in China, where startups have thrown millions of yuan in gifts and cash at users in order to grab a larger share of the market than competitors offering nearly identical services.
Nasdaq-listed news aggregator Qutoutiao was among the first apps to offer users cash rewards in what it calls “loyalty programmes” that “cost-effectively acquire new users”.
“It requires people who are sensitive to small financial incentives of which there are plenty in China’s vast inland rural areas,” Shanghai-based mobile technology expert Matthew Brennan told AFP.
Kuaishou is taking a gamble in exporting its model to North America, where few apps have managed to build long-term audiences by paying people to use them.
Success will depend on whether the main attraction of the app is the money up for grabs, or whether payment is “merely a secondary ‘side benefit’ to using Zynn”, Rui Ma, a tech advisor and host of the Tech Buzz China podcast, told AFP.
Most online reviews of Zynn are focused on the cash reward system, with reviewers either complaining about being unable to withdraw their winnings or grateful for the amounts they’ve made off the app.
