To become a US$400 billion company,what domain names has ByteDance purchased?

Previously, there were reports that ByteDance's valuation was approaching $400 billion for private equity investors. The growing confidence of investors in the company's business, coupled with rumors of founder Zhang Yiming considering an IPO, has led to a sharp increase in the company's valuation, headquartered in Beijing.

Founded in 2012, ByteDance has not been in existence for even a decade, so what has allowed it to break through the formidable barriers among the BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) giants? Today, we've compiled ByteDance's related products and domain names. Let's take a look at what domain names this super unicorn has acquired!

1. **Toutiao (Today's Headlines):** Toutiao.com

"Toutiao" was launched in August 2012 and is one of the fastest-growing products in the field of mobile internet in China. From the beginning, Toutiao acquired and used Toutiao.com, directly matching the meaning of "headlines." The highly relevant domain name has played a significant role in Toutiao's rapid development.

2. **Douyin (TikTok):** Douyin.com

Douyin, a short-video social media platform primarily focused on young users, was incubated by ByteDance from Toutiao and launched in September 2016. As of September 2020, Douyin had over 600 million daily active users. In May 2017, Douyin acquired the Pinyin domain douyin.com and started using it as the official website domain. "Douyin" directly translates to "shaking sound," perfectly matching the brand. Furthermore, after the merger with Vigo Video in 2020, the brand domain name for "Douyin Vigo Version" was huoshan.com, rumored to be acquired for millions.

3. **Xigua Video:** Ixigua.com

Xigua Video, a personalized recommendation video platform under ByteDance, was incubated by Toutiao. Xigua Video uses the combined domain name "爱西瓜" (loving watermelon) ixigua.com.

4. **Wukong Q&A (formerly Toutiao Q&A):** Wukong.com

In June 2017, Toutiao Q&A was officially renamed Wukong Q&A, a question and answer community. It used the independent Pinyin domain wukong.com, rumored to have cost millions to acquire. "Wukong" means "monkey king."

5. **Tuchong:** Tuchong.com

Tuchong, a photo-sharing and photography community app, is a subsidiary of ByteDance. Tuchong acquired and used the Pinyin domain tuchong.com from its inception. This domain was registered in 2008 and directly matches the brand "图虫" (picture worm).

6. **Mubu (幕布):** Mubu.com

"Mubu" is the first product of ByteDance's Kun Dou Technology, focusing on solving efficiency problems in work and life. The Mubu team acquired the Pinyin domain mubu.com for millions in January 2017 and used it as the official website. Mubu.com was registered in 1999 and means "curtain cloth."

7. **Feishu (Lark):** Feishu.cn

"Feishu" is an office tool developed by ByteDance in 2016. It acquired the Pinyin domain "飞书" (flying book) feishu.cn from the beginning and used it as the official website domain. The overseas version of Feishu is named "Lark" and uses the domain larksuite.com.

In February 2020, Feishu acquired the domain bytecloud.com; in March, Feishu Technology registered the domain larkoffice.com, which has not yet been used; in September, it also acquired the three-letter domain OKR.com, matching its product "Feishu OKR." Additionally, OKR.cn and OKR.com.cn have been transferred to Feishu's ownership.

8. **Feiliao (FlipChat):** Feiliao.com

"Feiliao" is an open social product under ByteDance, officially launched in May 2019. Feiliao used the Pinyin domain "飞聊" (flying chat) feiliao.com from the start. Before its acquisition by ByteDance, this domain was owned by a domain investor in Xiamen, and it was reported that ByteDance paid millions to acquire it. The English domain name for "Feiliao" is flipchat.cn, which has also been protected.

9. **Kuaishou (Quick Understand Encyclopedia):** Baike.com

In September 2019, Toutiao acquired the Chinese commercial encyclopedia website "互动百科" (Interactive Encyclopedia), including its brand domain name "百科" (baike.com). This domain was acquired by Interactive Encyclopedia in May 2010 for over a million from a domain investor and later became part of Toutiao. In April 2020, ByteDance launched the mobile web product "快懂百科" (Quick Understand Encyclopedia) and used baike.com as the official website domain.

10. **Dali Education (Dali):** Dali.com.cn

In November 2020, ByteDance launched the education subsidiary "大力教育" (Dali Education), with the official website domain being dali.com.cn. Since dali.com is already in use by a foreign company, ByteDance purchased the domain dali.com.cn through Vname.com.

11. **Duoshan:** Duoshan.com

Duoshan, a short video social app targeting young users, was launched in January 2019. Its official website domain is duoshan.com, perfectly matching the brand.

In addition to these, ByteDance has primarily used Pinyin domain names that are easy for Chinese users to remember and spell. Pinyin domains are favored because they align with Chinese language and culture, match user habits, are SEO-friendly, and have high usage rates in website building. ByteDance's emphasis on domain names, despite being app-based, highlights the importance of having a good domain name for a company's success.

Perhaps it is this focus on domain names that has allowed ByteDance to break through the competition and become a super unicorn valued at $400 billion, reaffirming the idea that having a good domain name is a crucial path to a company's growth in today's digital age!