TikTok Partners With IMDb on New Linking Option

TikTok teamed up with IMDb, a provider of information about celebrities, movies and television shows, on a new feature.

Users of the video creation platform will be able to link up to five titles of movies or TV shows within their videos, and clicking those links will bring viewers to an in-application page containing information such as director, genre, release date, rating, runtime, title and top cast members.

Other videos tagged with the same title will also appear.

People on TikTok can also add films and TV shows to their favorites on their profiles.

The feature debuted Thursday in the U.K. and U.S.

IMDb said the aim is to build connections and positively impact the TV and film-loving community on TikTok, and brands and creators can tap the new feature to amplify and strengthen their partnerships by better engaging audiences and driving direct action from viewers.

TikTok users creating videos will see an “add link” option, at which point they can search “movie and TV” and choose from more than 12 million titles available on IMDb.

Selected titles can be included by clicking “add to video,” and they will be featured above the caption once the video is published.

The companies said Amazon Web Services’ AWS Data Exchange is powering TikTok’s licensing of IMDb data and information.

Grace Li, director of strategic partnerships at TikTok and parent company ByteDance, said in a statement, “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. 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.”

IMDb chief operating officer Nikki Santoro added, “We’re excited to welcome TikTok as the latest major company to rely on IMDb data to power new experiences for its customers. 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.”