TikTok rival Zynn bows out of US market after approximate 15-month run

After just 15 months of operations, Kuaishou will stop operating its short video app Zynn in the US from 20 August 2021. According to multiple reports, including Reuters and the South China Morning Post, the app has been taken down by its operator Kuaishou. A quick check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE found that Zynn's website cannot be accessed with a "404 Not Found" error message found in place. 

The company did not offer a reason for its closure. In a statement to various media outlets, the company said it took the initiative and removed Zynn from the US App Store. Other overseas products will not affected and its overseas strategy remains unchanged. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Kuaishou for more details.  Currently, Zynn's rival TikTok holds the top spot in the US market. 

Released in May 2020, Zynn was on a steady climb when it launched, even reaching the top spot on the iOS App Store in the US thanks to its cash rewards and gift cards marketing promos. Zynn users could earn points just by watching videos or inviting at least five friends to the app. These points could be converted into cash.

However the fame didn't last very long. According to techcrunch, following an investigation last year, it was reported that Zynn was paying its users to watch videos to improve its ranking on the US iOS App Store. Moreover, the app was also pulled from the Play Store after reports found that the platform was fraught with videos that were stolen from other apps.  The same report also said Zynn had only 200,000 monthly active users in June 2021, down from about three million in August 2020, citing figures from mobile insight platform App Annie. 

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