Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd., creator of video app TikTok, has rolled out a search engine in China that brings out heavily scrubbed results, in compliance with the country's strict censorship rules, Bloomberg News reported.
Toutiao Search, which bears similarities to Alphabet Inc. unit Google LLC's home page, allows users to search for news, videos and information by typing in keywords. The search results prioritize content from ByteDance's own core news app Toutiao.
Toutiao's operations were previously shuttered following an order from China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, as part of an intensified crackdown on pirated content online.
In early August, ByteDance said it was building a general search engine that aims to provide "a more ideal user experience."
