With IMDb, TikTok Finds Another Way to Hook Users and Make Money

Brian Welk
·2 min read

Finally, an easier way to fuel Timothée Chalamet obsessions: TikTok now lets users link directly to a movie or TV show via data from IMDb.

Now available to users in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, TikTok users will see an option to “add link” before publishing a video. Search “movie and TV,” find anything available via the database, and you can attach related videos, linking up to five different movies or shows in a single video. There’s also a dedicated, in-app page that draws up relevant data.

More from IndieWire

For fans, TikTok’s license of IMDb data makes it easier to find all content related to, say, “Wednesday” on the app. For IMDb, it means cash for the licensing fees, and for TikTok, it’s a potent marketing tool that it can pitch to studios and presumably will feed the app’s robust ad revenue. Currently, it’s projected to surpass $11 billion in the U.S. by 2024, nearly double of the nearly $6 billion in the U.S. in 2022, according to Reuters.

“TikTok’s global community of movie and TV enthusiasts is incredibly active and passionate, with more than 25 billion combined views for the hashtags #FilmTok, #MovieTok, and #TVTok,” said Grace Li, director of strategic partnerships at TikTok and ByteDance. “As we continue to find new ways to enrich the TikTok experience, this new feature, developed in collaboration with IMDb, gives our community more opportunities to discover, create, and share the content they love.”

“We’re excited to welcome TikTok as the latest major company to rely on IMDb data to power new experiences for their customers,” said Nikki Santoro, chief operating officer of IMDb. “This innovative collaboration enables TikTok creators to showcase and share the movies and shows they love, further extending the IMDb mission to help customers discover and decide what to watch and listen to, wherever they are.”

IMDb is owned by Amazon, and TikTok’s licensing of IMDb data and information is fulfilled through Amazon Web Service’s AWS Data Exchange. THR first reported the new feature.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.