TikTok Announces Ads to Appear in Search Results
By Movieguide® Contributor
TikTok has just announced that sponsored content will now appear in users’ search results.
“We’re excited to announce the launch of the Search Ads Toggle, a new feature on TikTok Ads Manager that allows brands to serve ads in TikTok search results,” the app announced in a statement. “The Search Ads Toggle leverages advertisers’ existing In-Feed Ad creative to serve ads alongside organic search results from relevant user queries.”
The Search Ad Toggle means ads relevant to a user’s search will automatically appear, integrated with search results.
“This move has been a long time coming,” Engadget wrote. “It was something of an inevitability, as competitors like Instagram started doing the same thing earlier this year.”
They also said it was “worth noting” that ads are already a part of users’ TikTok feeds, placed in between videos from creators they already follow.
The Verge reported that ad placements on TikTok are “valuable” for companies because of the app’s popularity with young people but added, “TikTok search isn’t as developed as Google Search, and keyword queries and hashtags are often pretty useless.”
“In the past, TikTok has also struggled with moderating content that appeared prominently in search results,” they continued, pointing to videos the app had to remove from the platform after it was found that they were promoting prescription drugs as weight loss tools.
Movieguide® previously reported on issues with TikTok’s content moderation:
The Wall Street Journal recently published a report that shed light on how the social media site TikTok exposes minors to pornographic content and drug usage through search algorithms.
The report, titled “How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors,” conducted its experiment by creating fake accounts that represented users between 13 and 15 to observe what content the app emphasized.
“TikTok served one account registered as a 13-year-old at least 569 videos about drug use, references to cocaine and meth addiction, and promotional videos for online sales of drug products and paraphernalia. Hundreds of similar videos appeared in the feeds of the Journal’s other minor accounts,” the report found. “TikTok also showed the Journal’s teenage users more than 100 videos from accounts recommending paid pornography sites and sex shops. Thousands of others were from creators who labeled their content as for adults only.”
The Wall Street Journal sent 974 videos to TikTok, noting that adult videos and drug content were “served to the minor accounts — including hundreds shown to single accounts in quick succession.”
The Christian Post reported that of the 974 videos in question, 169 of them were removed before the newspaper sent the content to TikTok. TikTok removed an additional 255 videos after the report was published.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
