On August 11, according to the news, after Doubao is integrated with the hotel transaction channel of Douyin Laoke, it will implement an independent software service fee policy for successful orders. When merchants jump to Douyin Laoke through the Doubao entry to complete hotel orders, they will be charged a software service fee of 11.4% and a payment processing fee of 0.6%, resulting in a total rate of approximately 12%.
Regarding the market statement that "Doubao recommends hotels and takes a 12% commission," Liu Xing, the public relations director of Doubao, responded on Weibo on the evening of August 10, stating that this description is not accurate. Currently, Doubao's lifestyle service business does not have a paid promotion mechanism. Hotel recommendations do not charge advertising fees, and merchants cannot influence recommendation results or rankings through payments. The related fees are only generated after the order is completed and are mainly used for channel services.
Liu Xing said that unlike some platforms using a "commission + advertising" business model, Doubao currently mainly charges based on the outcome of the transaction. Merchants should pay more attention to the actual channel costs and the effectiveness of new orders. At the same time, Doubao's lifestyle services are still in the early exploration stage and will continue to optimize based on feedback from users and merchants.
Previously, on July 27, the Douyin Life Services Learning Center released the "Explanation of Software Service Fee Policy for Specific Channels on the Douyin Life Services Platform in 2026." According to the policy, starting from 0:00 on August 10, 2026, the platform will implement new software service fee rules for specific channel orders, with specific rates notified through the merchant's Douyin Laoke backend.
This policy indicates that the basis for calculating the software service fee is the amount paid by the user and the subsidy amount provided by other entities besides the merchant (such as platform general coupons). The rate is determined based on factors such as the type of merchant, product category, POI category, product type, and transaction channel. Among them, Doubao is included in the range of specific channels, and the specific rate may be adjusted according to the platform's service situation. Whether an order belongs to a specific channel is determined by the settlement statement.
