New progress has been made in the 'interconnectivity' between Tencent and Alibaba, the two tech giants.
On the evening of November 29, WeChat announced that it would adjust its external link management measures effective immediately. Users will be able to directly access external links in one-on-one chat scenarios (i.e., private chat windows). Additionally, a pilot program will be launched to allow direct access to e-commerce external links within group chats.
Moreover, WeChat plans to develop an opt-in model, providing users with external link management features. This may imply that WeChat users will have the option to choose whether to directly open external links from platforms like Taobao or PDD Holdings.
Testing by Zimubang (ID: wujicaijing) revealed that sharing product links from apps such as Taobao, Tmall, and Douyin to WeChat private chats allows the links to be opened directly. However, sharing the same links in group chats prompts the message, “To view, please long-press the URL to copy and open it using a browser.” A senior industry insider noted that group chats on WeChat temporarily cannot access Taobao links directly due to the massive volume of data involved, requiring phased rollouts to ease pressure. By midnight tomorrow, WeChat group chats will be able to directly access external e-commerce links.
Furthermore, in the less-than-300-word announcement, WeChat mentioned 'regulatory guidance' three times and emphasized 'safety standards' twice, indirectly reflecting the profound influence of policy factors on this adjustment.
While opening up its traffic pool, WeChat struck back by stating that it would subsequently 'work with major internet platforms to advance interconnectivity solutions, actively cooperate with other internet platforms to implement interconnectivity, and explore...