Internet companies fighting for limited time of online users

TENCENT AND TOUTIAO, two domestic internet giants, reportedly took each other to court on Friday, claiming unfair competition. Both asked each other to apologize and provide compensation. Beijing News comments:

Weeks before the two companies made it to the court, they had already been arguing with each other. Toutiao claimed that Tencent "blocked" legal links to its news on WeChat, a popular social software developed by Tencent, while Tencent said Toutiao "distorted" official reports to taint Tencent's image.

Their conflict is deeply rooted in competition for users' time, or, in a newly invented term, competition for the Gross National Time (GNT).