Doubao Clarifies 12% Fee on Hotel Bookings is Transaction-Based, Not for Recommendations

ByteDance's AI assistant Doubao clarified that it does not charge merchants for hotel recommendations or ads, but instead collects a ~12% channel service fee only after a booking is successfully completed. This fee consists of an 11.4% software service fee and a 0.6% payment processing fee for orders routed through Doubao to Douyin's local services platform. This highlights a shift in AI assistant monetization, moving away from traditional search-ad models toward transaction-based commission fees integrated with local life services. It demonstrates how large language model (LLM) assistants are being commercialized through direct e-commerce and service integration. According to Douyin's policy, the fee applies to specific channels including Doubao, and merchants cannot pay to influence the AI's recommendations or ranking. The fee is calculated based on the user's actual payment amount plus any platform-provided subsidies.