Xiaohongshu releases the most stringent traffic management rules

Recently, Xiaohongshu released its most stringent traffic management rules to date, which is undoubtedly a major change for all merchants and individuals operating on the platform. This article explains these new rules in detail. It is crucial for merchants and creators who hope to market effectively on Xiaohongshu to understand and abide by these rules.

A few days ago, Xiaohongshu clearly released the "Announcement on the Governance Rules of Transaction Diversion Commercial Order" on the Commercial Advertisement Potato.

From now on, there are clear management rules regarding traffic diversion. I took a look and found that they are quite strict. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are the strictest management rules at present. Therefore, business friends who have traffic diversion should pay attention to understand the traffic diversion management rules.

1. Determination and punishment of private message diversion behavior

1) Provide WeChat ID/phone number or guide users to add WeChat

This is the mainstream method. It is the most efficient method, but also the method with the highest probability of violation. Before, it was entirely a matter of probability. Sometimes there were violations, and sometimes there were no violations. Everyone was completely like a blind man groping in the dark, and they counted each one as it came.

Then, when the new rules are implemented, new regulatory methods will inevitably be implemented simultaneously. I predict that the probability of violations of such actions that are clearly written in the governance rules will increase, or even completely violate the rules.

Here I would like to remind business friends who have obtained private message exemption in the past that they no longer have this permission. Just because you have obtained it before does not mean you will have it in the future. Please do not divert traffic indiscriminately and be sure to use official tools.

2) Other contact information or external links leading to external sites

This method is difficult to begin with, and it is estimated that it will be cut off now. No matter whether it is an external link or a QR code, do not send it anymore. This is not a matter of probability. If it is sent in one second, the illegal message will be sent in the next second.

3) Punishment for the above-mentioned diversion behaviors

In terms of punishment methods, it was also clearly stated for the first time that account traffic and content release would be restricted, and in the most serious cases, the account might be blocked.

All previous governance rules actually did not involve affecting account traffic, but this time the authorities are serious about it, and it seems that limiting account traffic is the lightest form of punishment here.

II. Determination and punishment of e-commerce traffic diversion behavior

1) Directly display traffic diversion information in stores and accounts or divert traffic in other interactive scenarios

Including but not limited to: account homepage, notes, comments, product details, store pages, physical packages, promotional pages, chat tools, merchant customer service, smart marketing text messages, live broadcast interactions, live broadcast sales, etc.

Focusing on marketing text messages and physical packages is basically the standard way for traditional e-commerce to divert traffic to private domains, and Xiaohongshu is also included in the scope of violations.

2) Send/push third-party information

Merchants or creators publish and push third-party products, information, websites, applications, etc. that are not required for normal transactions or services, including but not limited to targeted contact information (such as mobile phone numbers, WeChat, email addresses, QR codes, bank account numbers and other payment methods), third-party platform names/o90, application accounts that are not on the Xiaohongshu platform, website links, etc.

3) Induction to a third party

Merchants or creators induce consumers to jump to third-party websites, clients or offline transactions that are not official channels of Xiaohongshu, or carry out other similar behaviors that lead to transaction risks and may damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

Punishment for the above conduct

• Restricting the exposure of notes, live broadcasts, products, etc., or not showing them in search results, restricting participation in marketing activities initiated by Xiaohongshu, and other restrictive measures
• Restrict users from publishing or modifying user information, notes, comments, live broadcasts, products, merchant customer service messages, etc.
• Pay liquidated damages and deduct a certain amount of liquidated damages from the deposit
• Clear the store, terminate the cooperation with the merchant, close the merchant's store, and remove all the products for sale in the store
• Account suspension: If the merchant or creator's violation of regulations greatly damages the user experience or causes damage to any third party, the platform will suspend the account and reserve the right to pursue legal action.

To sum up, the e-commerce level will also affect the store status and traffic, as well as the payment of liquidated damages, store liquidation, and account closure.

Final Thoughts

I have posted some examples of the main violation scenarios listed by the official below, please save them for yourself:

As the traffic diversion tools officially provided by Xiaohongshu are gradually improved, it is normal to launch corresponding governance rules. By establishing rules, merchants are forced to use official tools for traffic diversion. Therefore, merchants with traffic diversion needs should start to adapt to using official tools for traffic diversion to avoid affecting their accounts and stores.