Correction and Comment to The Verge Article relating to Triller:
The Verge was found to have written a knowingly false story, which intentionally manipulates information and misstates sources
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 4, 2020 / The Verge published a false and misleading article about Triller, citing metrics from one year ago from an entity that is no longer in existence. The information was provided by former disgruntled employees who never worked at the operative Triller that exists today. The program they referenced is not used by Triller.
The Verge story titled "TikTok Competitor Triller Found Allegedly Inflating its User Numbers" published Friday, October 2nd, 2020 is false and misreports information about Triller.
"How they can create a story like this when Triller is the only app to ever be number one in 50 countries simultaneously, but talk about numbers from pre-launch from one year ago as relevant, just reeks of sheer agenda" said the CEO of a leading app metrics company who did not want to disclose his name for fear of retaliation by the Verge.
The Verge never attempted to contact Triller prior to or after publishing the article and has refused to engage in any meaningful dialogue with the company. They've also refused to publish the company's prior statements, and intentionally ignored statements provided and published from the sources they cite: Sensor Tower and Apptopia, further spreading misleading and inaccurate information.
The "former six employees" referenced in the article were never employed at Triller Holdco, the current parent company and operative entity.
The ex-employees in question never had access to Triller's information and would only have had access to systems used by Carnegie, which is unknown to the current Triller executives and owners. Triller made the Verge aware that it did not use Localytics in October and have not since then, but since this would make their story moot they refuse to publish this.
Apptopia and Sensor Tower, the only two "third party sources" the Verge references, are equally upset with the mischaracterization of their quotes and information at the Verge's refusal to use their accurate and confirmed statements.
"Both Apptopia and Sensor Tower provided concise quotes and information confirming they have not and are not challenging Triller's numbers, and that they both are working with Triller" three sources working with both entities confirmed. "The Verge ignored the statements and quotes provided by Apptopia and Sensor Tower as they did not align with their angle. To create false and misleading statements is another level," he continued. "The Verge refuses to engage in meaningful discussions with Triller or its PR team and refuses to review any information," Lu continued. "They also failed to note that Apptopia is performing a review of Triller's numbers and will be publishing a report in the near future."
"This is akin to a reporter comparing Instagram's metrics prior to its acquisition by Facebook in 2012 when it had 30m users and no revenue, and attempting to make those numbers relevant today. It couldn't be more irresponsible."
"Can you imagine saying look Instagram only had 30m users in 2012 when Facebook bought it, it must be overstated in 2020" said Mike Lu CEO of Triller. "This is so ridiculous and so sad for our industry," he continued.
On a positive note, Triller appreciates the Verge for bringing attention to the fact that the predecessor owner of the subsidiary may have overstated numbers in the initial sale, are investigating it, and will gladly pay Business Insider a commission if it is able to get a partial refund from Carnegie if it is found they overstated its numbers in early 2019.
The following information was provided as an on the record statement prior to publication but was ignored. In a follow up, Triller has asked the Verge to include Apptopia and Sensor Tower's actual quotes. They have refused:
"It is unfortunate to see another outlet that used to be a trusted news source fall to sensationalist news, and report hearsay on behalf of a small group of people who have made clear their deceitful agenda.
Six former Triller employees, all confirmed as the same employees who provided this information, are disseminating this inaccurate information. They are no longer at Triller, and have not been for a year, because the company refused to censor and remove content and/or delete people's accounts because they did not agree with the opinions of the content or they disliked the person.
These six employees were never part of Triller as it is known today. They were part of a small group known as Triller Legacy, which represents one of four apps merged together and thus any data they would have, even if accurate, would represent a small fraction of the overall business.
Triller can validate each and every one of our 239M plus users and have two separate third party analytics companies preparing independent analyses based on transparent data access.
Both Apptopia and Sensor Tower informed the writer directly, numerous times and in writing, that any classification of our data relating to downloads as inaccurate is just a false characterization.
Both have confirmed they have never stated, published or implied Triller's metrics are in any way not accurate and have confirmed in fact that if the writer were to imply our numbers are in any way inaccurate, it would be fake news."
Sensor Tower provided the following on the record quote also ignored completely by the Verge:
"With regard to any past metrics or statements released by Sensor Tower on this matter, please note that they were not intended to challenge or dispute Triller's officially published metrics or their accuracy, and we have never implied otherwise in our communications. Any implication that Sensor Tower has stated or published anything that challenges Triller's metrics or implies they are not accurate would be incorrect."
Apptopia provided the following on the record quote which was also ignored:
"We are working closely with Triller who has been very transparent and is opening up all of their analytics accounts to Apptopia. We are working on internal reports and working with Triller to create the most accurate and up to date data over the short term. We feel strongly about publishing the most accurate estimates, and the best way for us to do that is to work hand in hand with Triller and authenticate their real data. We plan to do this over the coming weeks and do our best to be the source of truth on the matter."
For more information on Triller's metrics, please contact [email protected].
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SOURCE: Triller