QQ can directly open Taobao links, but there is still a gap compared with JD.com and Pinduoduo

The reporter learned from multiple channels that on the afternoon of September 9, the relevant business departments of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held an "Administrative Guidance Meeting on Blocking URL Links". At the meeting, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed compliance standards for instant messaging software and required all platforms to lift the blocking in accordance with the standards.

A week has passed, how are the relevant parties implementing the plan? As of press time, QQ can directly open Taobao links, and some users can directly open Douyin links in QQ. However, the URL links of the same type of products or services shared by users are still not displayed and accessed in the same way.

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Evaluation: QQ can directly open Taobao links, but there are still problems of differential treatment

On September 16 and 17, reporters from 21st Century Business Herald conducted a review of some apps. Taobao links can be opened directly through QQ. Clicking on the link in QQ will open it as a web page. Compared with before, there is no need to copy the password and then copy and open it in the Taobao App. However, compared with JD.com and Pinduoduo, Taobao App still cannot share to QQ with one click. You need to copy the password and send it to QQ first.

In addition, for URL links of the same type of products or services shared by users, the display and access formats are still not consistent.

For Douyin links, some QQ users can open the links directly, but some users still cannot open the Douyin links directly and need to copy the password to the Douyin App before they can open it.

From WeChat, Taobao and Douyin links cannot be opened directly. However, WeChat and Feishu can share files and links, and web links can be opened directly in the App.

In July this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a six-month special rectification campaign for the Internet industry, and blocking URL links was one of the key issues to be rectified this time.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has guided relevant Internet companies to conduct self-inspection and rectification, and held an administrative guidance meeting, requiring companies to pragmatically promote the resolution of issues such as instant messaging blocking of URL links in steps and stages in accordance with rectification requirements.

At present, QQ is taking the lead and is gradually relaxing the link ban.

From open to closed, and then from closed to open

Links between giant platforms have been banned for a long time.

On September 8, 2008, Taobao blocked Baidu's search service, marking the beginning of the ban on links between platforms.

Since then, Alibaba and Tencent have been escalating their bans. In August 2013, Taobao said that WeChat had shut down WeChat public accounts for marketing Taobao products and merchants, and Taobao's data interface had cut off all WeChat sources. In 2018, WeChat upgraded the "WeChat External Link Content Management Specifications" to prohibit the dissemination of special identification codes and passwords in Moments.

In the same year, ByteDance's Douyin, Xigua Video, and Huoshan Video could not be shared on WeChat and QQ. In February 2020, Feishu, an office collaboration software under ByteDance, announced that it had been completely banned by WeChat. Last year, Douyin banned products from third-party sources from entering the shopping cart in the live broadcast room.

In recent years, the platform economy has shifted from an early “open” to a “closed” ecosystem, with the further concentration of interests and power on Internet platforms, each of which has built a “walled garden”. This has disrupted the normal market order to a certain extent and worsened the healthy competitive environment.

The 21st Century Business Herald reporter noted that as early as 2019, Zhang Mao, then director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, expressed his views on Internet platforms blocking each other in an interview. Zhang Mao said that Internet platforms blocking each other is actually a matter of "choose one of two": "It is not in line with the principle of fair competition."

Since last year, the central government has continuously sent out strong anti-monopoly signals, further strengthened the regulation and constraints on the platform economy, and the closed-loop operation of platform companies has gradually loosened.

On September 13, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Zhao Zhiguo, spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Information and Communications Administration, said that interconnection and interoperability is an inevitable choice for the high-quality development of the Internet industry.

"How to ensure normal access to legal URL links is a basic requirement for the development of the Internet. Restricting the identification, resolution and normal access to URL links without justifiable reasons affects the user experience, damages user rights and interests, and disrupts the market order," said Zhao Zhiguo.

After the meeting, Tencent responded that it firmly supports the decision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and will implement it in stages and steps on the premise of safety as the bottom line.

Alibaba responded: Interconnection is the original intention of the Internet, and openness is the foundation of the digital ecosystem. Alibaba will follow the relevant requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and work with other platforms to face the future and move forward in the same direction.

ByteDance said it will earnestly implement the decision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and call on all Internet platforms to act together, not to make excuses, to clarify the timetable, to actively implement it, to provide users with a safe, reliable and convenient network space, so that users can truly enjoy the convenience of interconnection.

There are still many challenges in interconnection

Breaking the web link blocking is the first step towards interconnection.

Industry insiders told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the focus of this interconnection is still on solving the problem of URL link blocking, and does not involve the opening of API interfaces, mini-programs, QR codes, payments and other aspects.

Independent telecom analyst Fu Liang also said that the current issue is still link blocking, and interoperability issues such as payment have not yet been resolved.

"Interoperability between platforms cannot be achieved overnight. Different interfaces have very complex historical origins, technologies and related impacts, and the difficulty of opening them varies. For example, the URL link interface does not directly involve data openness issues and is relatively easier." said the industry insider.

However, with further interconnection in the future, data security is an unavoidable proposition. Xiao Yaqing, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, also emphasized at the above press conference: Internet security is the bottom line.

From a technical perspective, the interconnection and interoperability between platforms involves "interoperability" and "data portability". The former mainly refers to the fact that different control system software or devices can coordinate their work through the digital exchange and sharing of relevant information; the latter means that when users switch between platform operators or different platforms, they can require the platform to transmit their own relevant data to a designated third party.

The interconnection and interoperability of platforms and the portability of data inevitably involve the transmission and exchange of data information. Security issues and standards issues must be taken into consideration.

An industry insider revealed to reporters that the collection and decryption of data from Internet companies requires a large amount of capital investment. The technical costs required for some strong privacy protections can still be afforded by large companies, but most small and medium-sized enterprises may not have the conditions to provide the same degree of security protection, which creates a natural threshold for them to participate in interconnection.

In addition, independent telecom analyst Fu Liang believes that under the requirement of interconnection, instant messaging software may establish a whitelist to include Taobao, Tmall, JD.com and other large platforms, and can directly jump to the link. However, for some small platforms, it is very likely that they will not be included in the whitelist, so that traffic may be more concentrated on the head enterprises, which is not conducive to small and medium-sized enterprises.

"In the future, we need to study the steps for interconnection and interoperability, refine policies, fully consider issues such as the current state of the industry and platform governance, and gradually resolve the above-mentioned problems," said the above-mentioned industry insider.