TikTok is apparently developing a separate version of its app for the United States as pressure mounts on ByteDance to divest. However, for marketers, it generates more questions than answers.
“I’d like to learn more about how the user data, ad stack, and process will evolve, which certainly has the potential to be the bigger disruption (in terms of usage numbers),” said Chris Mele, managing partner at marketing firm Siberia.
To summarize, the platform’s personnel are presently working on a new version of TikTok, dubbed “M2,” which is expected to hit app stores on September 5. According to The Information, the corporation plans to withdraw the current app in the United States in March 2026 and transfer it over to M2 from there. TikTok had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publishing.
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Marketers who invest brand dollars in TikTok have drawn back from the brink since January, but they remain cautious. According to Pew, seven years after its inception in the United States, one-third of all Americans use the app. A switch to a different app could result in a hard reset for that community.
So, while this new arrangement may appease US President Donald Trump, it is possible that the app may lose its huge US user base in translation, compromising the channel’s reputation as a dependable means of reaching and influencing young consumers.
“Even small barriers like searching for a new app, re-downloading, or logging in again can traditionally lead to drop-offs, especially among the so-called casual users,” said Jyrki Poutanen, chief creative officer at United Imaginations in an email.
“They are definitely at risk of losing non-power users, especially if there’s another sign-up or login wall,” said Sam Piliero, founder and head of growth at e-commerce specialist firm The Moonlighters. “TikTok is pretty heavily embedded into U.S. culture, but it is still not a social sharing platform like Instagram, which ultimately puts less pressure on the user to re-download the app,” the analyst stated.
Courtney Shaw, social media solutions at Basis Technologies, stated that TikTok owner Bytedance might learn from Meta’s experience to avoid that danger. When Threads launched in July 2023, the company used Instagram to direct consumers to its new site. Shaw suggested that ByteDance might opt to create a similar shift. “TikTok is very much ingrained in U.S. culture and I could foresee the current app clearly explaining the benefits of M2 and then linking out viral content in M2 to gather engagement.”
With little specifics about the secret initiative, the platform has yet to begin marketing its American satellite to advertisers. “We haven’t heard any such pitches so far — and we work with globally operating companies like Wolt and Heineken, both of which have a strong presence on TikTok,” according to Poutanen.
Since the start of its years-long dispute with the US government, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has gone to tremendous pains to ensure that data collected about US users remains in the US. Transitioning to another app may reassure marketers who are still concerned about the platform’s data security, but the devil will be in the details, according to Shaw.
“Because the app is currently being built by ByteDance (which also apparently will still own a minority stake in M2), foreign influence may still remain,” Shaw told reporters. “While a new app may improve perception, it will come down to the details behind the app’s coding, algorithms, and regulatory cooperation.”
Nonetheless, the decision to permanently seal out the United States will undoubtedly provide brand legal teams with extra reassurance.
“I think the biggest feature that would put concerns to bed is where the data is processed and housed,” stated Shamsul Chowdhury, global evp paid social at Jellyfish. “If that sits within U.S. soil owned by a U.S. company, I think that solves 99% of the issues.”
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