Text: Internet Jianghu Author: Zhigang
The annual 315 Gala is a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of enterprises, always warning enterprises to lead by example and not to cross the legal red line. But there are always some companies that have a luck mentality, facing the 315 party, only silently praying in their hearts, hoping that they will not become the "lucky ones" in the 315 list.
Recently, the Internet Jianghu team specially planned the 315 special series to predict the exposure direction of the upcoming 315 event.
The 315 Gala itself has limited program time, and there are not many problems that can be exposed, so it can only expose the problems that consumers urgently need to solve at this stage. The forecasting directions of this series are wide-ranging, and there is also the possibility of prediction bias. However, we will do our best to help consumers improve their awareness and ability to protect their own rights and interests, hoping to provide a contribution to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
This issue predicts that one of the exposure directions of the 315 Gala is the long-form video platform.
After advanced on-demand, limited screen casting, membership number disputes, and frequent "backstabs" of consumers, how should the rights and interests of platform users be safeguarded? Why do long video platforms repeatedly "reverse" commercialization? How to protect the consumer rights and interests of Internet platforms? These questions need to be answered urgently.
"Annoying" "iQiyi", "painstaking" to stand on the opposite side of users?
"This 315 does not iQiyi do not watch"; "The appearance of eating is getting more and more ugly, is it necessary to charge money to play sound and pictures in the future"; "Now that I am not a member of Qiyi Guo, I recommend that major film companies do not give iQiyi permission"...
In the comment area of social media, netizens commented on the "28-day membership".
On March 1, #iQIYI responded that members can only use 28 days #Popular terms on the hot search in February, iQIYI responded: The service time of the membership monthly card is based on the natural month as the statistical unit, that is, from the date of service activation, and it is extended according to the number of natural month days in the month of activation.
The response was once again hotly debated.
Some netizens said that the validity period is 28 days, which is not reasonable. Some netizens also think that iQiyi's calculation method is not humane enough, and members purchased during February on other platforms are mainly used in March, and should also be calculated according to March.
Compared with several other parent video platforms, Tencent Youku, Mango TV, and Bilibili only have membership payments calculated on a natural monthly basis, while other platforms are billed for 31 days.
Although the rules of the platform are not illegal and illegal, iQIYI may not have taken more into account the feelings of users. What can be wrong with a user who pays a fee? Is the difference in users the membership length of those days? Maybe not, as a consumer, you just want the platform to give an attitude.
On January 31, a Guangdong user took iQIYI to court over restrictions on screen casting, demanding that iQIYI not restrict the clarity of screen projection in any way during the membership period. In this regard, iQIYI's official response will be taken seriously and prudently in accordance with the principles of respecting the law, respecting contracts, and respecting the rights and interests of consumers.
On the cusp of the storm, every movement of iQiyi is being amplified.
The controversy over the length of the platform's membership has not yet been eliminated, and a patent on bullet screen advertising has attracted attention.
Tianyancha APP information shows that the patent for "a video barrage advertising method, device, equipment and storage medium" applied by Beijing iQiyi Technology Co., Ltd. has been announced. The information shows that the embodiment of the present application relates to the field of data processing, aiming to realize the bullet-screen display of advertising content.
The dispute over the number of membership days has not yet been resolved, and bullet ads are coming back? iQiyi's next hot search may have been "booked" in advance.
After the restriction of screen casting caused controversy, iQiyi announced that it would relax the restrictions on screen casting and login restrictions, but Tencent and Youku are still restricting.
In the matter of changing tricks to let users pay more, not only iQiyi is spending their minds, but Tencent and Youku are also "working hard". For example, the previously controversial "advanced on-demand".
In 2021, the Consumer Association issued a document pointing out that for old members who have purchased VIP services before the launch of the advanced on-demand service, the video platform should provide services in accordance with the original membership agreement, and should not increase the charging items by modifying the standard terms, and collect advanced on-demand fees from old members whose VIP services have not expired, which will detract from the early viewing rights enjoyed by old members in accordance with the original membership agreement.
Subsequently, major platforms have canceled advanced on-demand.
Although the advance on-demand was canceled, the "finale screening ceremony" appeared again. Previously, Tencent Video had caused heated discussions among netizens because of the "finale screening ceremony" of "The Three-Body Problem". At that time, the "Cosmic Flicker Package" in the finale screening ceremony of "The Three-Body Problem" launched by Tencent Video included a live broadcast screening ceremony and 25 to 30 episodes unlocked in advance.
After the Consumer Association judged that the advance on-demand was unreasonable, was the "finale screening ceremony" reasonable and legal? Maybe not.
It is reported that previously, Tencent Video's hit "Menghualu" and "Star Han Splendid, Moon Life Canghai" both had this practice of selling early viewing rights in disguise.
Why are these long video platforms so hollowed out to stand against users? The reason behind this may still lie in commercialization.
Commercialization reverses and explores the "bottom line" of users for profitable long-form video platforms?
In the form of Internet business, long video may be one of the tracks that make investors lose the most.
Taking iQIYI as an example, the financial report shows that in 2022, iQIYI's revenue decreased by 5% year-on-year, online advertising business decreased by 25% year-on-year, content distribution revenue decreased by 14%, and "other" revenue decreased by 11% year-on-year. The decline is an indisputable fact.
In terms of profit, it has not been profitable for many years, and although it achieved operating profit in 2022, the net profit attributable to shareholders still lost more than 100 million.
After so many years of establishment of the long-form video platform, profitability is still an issue.
From advanced on-demand to restricted screen casting, to the 28-day controversy of members, these long-form video platforms always seem to stand on the opposite side of users, and the fundamental reason is that the platform hopes to expand monetization methods to further sit on the plate of large revenue, thereby improving the overall profit margin.
At the end of the day, the cost of content for long-form video platforms is too high.
For example, in 2022, iQi's content cost was RMB16.5 billion, and in 2021 and 2020, the content cost was RMB20.7 billion and RMB20.9 billion, respectively. In terms of the scale of paid users, the scale of iQiyi and Tencent has exceeded 100 million, and the increase is not much. The momentum of user scale growth is not large, and it is difficult for the platform to spread more costs.
In the view of the Internet rivers and lakes, if the platform economy loses large-scale growth in the traffic business, it will inevitably look for ARPU (average user income) growth.
In other words, if the platform wants to pursue profit, it will definitely make a fuss in the pursuit of single user payment. For example, advanced on-demand is aimed at directly improving the payment ability of individual users. The restriction on screen casting lies in finding more paid scenarios and launching TV platform memberships.
From a business point of view, this line of thinking seems fine. However, the Internet believes that taking profit as the starting point and constantly exploring the upper limit of ARPU is actually exploring the "bottom line" of users.
One thing long-form video platforms may need to rethink is, is it worth it to sacrifice the user experience for commercialization? Tiered paid memberships, advanced on-demand, and even "bullet ads" do bring new monetization possibilities, but they will continue to cause controversy.
Under the controversy, once the red line is crossed and the user is completely opposed, it may eventually meet the ruling of 315 rights protection.
Internet Jianghu believes that the excessive pursuit of monetization by long-form video platforms is a kind of "over-commercialization" at the expense of user experience.
In fact, these over-commercial monetization methods have been falsified many years ago.
For example, web advertising, which is the original form of monetization of the PC Internet, do you see that today's large information websites will still have dogskin plaster-like advertisements hanging on the screen?
Another example is search advertising, which once fell into the storm of false medical advertising in order to seek commercialization.
The situation of iQiyi is a bit like the "big brother" who was constantly controversial due to medical advertising: Baidu.
The difference is that Baidu has vigorously rectified the content ecology, and after the hosting page is up, it has fundamentally solved the problem, coupled with the perennial investment in AI technology to reverse Baidu's brand image, commercialization has found a way out.
Instead, it was 360 search, which appeared on the 315 gala for false medical advertising.
In essence, advanced on-demand, restricted screen casting, tiered paid membership... These monetization methods that make users "itch their teeth" may not be different from the "colorful" small advertisements hanging on the information webpage in those years, and they are all monetized at the cost of harming the user experience.
As users, we know this well.
A while ago, my friend Ah Wei bought a certain brand of TV, the reason is that his son likes to watch a certain cartoon, after buying a TV of more than 6,000 yuan home, he also has to buy a member to watch this animation, after buying a gold member, he needs to upgrade to a platinum member in the second season, and Ah Wei is indignant.
Times are changing, industry users are changing, and unlike back then, when the entire industry does this, users may not have a choice in the end.
In business, this is a kind of "forced order" behavior, but it may also mean some form of "monopoly", which requires stronger market supervision and regulatory intervention.
Written at the end:
Long video platforms have repeatedly fallen into public opinion turmoil, which may also be a wake-up call for the entire long video platform industry, commercialization is still not a good exploration, focusing on the membership model to innovate monetization methods, may bring more public opinion costs.
At least, in terms of increasing the payment of a single user, whether long videos are going in the wrong direction is indeed a question worth reflecting. What platforms need to understand is that in the direction of commercialization, user consumer rights and interests are always an inviolable bottom line.
Of course, for the industry, the exploration of long-form video commercialization is necessary and positive.
In a letter to investors, Gong Yu also mentioned that iQIYI is also paying close attention to industry opportunities brought by technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) and other innovative technologies, which may bring another way of thinking to the commercialization of the industry.
Next, we continue to look forward to where the long video platform will go.
Disclaimer: This article is based on the company's statutory disclosure and public information, but the author does not guarantee the completeness and timeliness of the information. In addition: the stock market is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market. The article does not constitute investment advice, and investment must be determined by oneself.