Advertisers flock to TikTok despite widespread bans

The Future. TikTok is facing more scrutiny than ever, with dozens of US institutions banning the app due to espionage concerns. But ad spend on TikTok is also stronger than ever, suggesting that the platform may be uniquely resilient to the political pressures that plague other platforms.

Clocking In
Fast Company covers TikTok’s standout success in an industry that’s generally struggling to attract advertisers.

• According to a recent market research report, 60% of surveyed ad buyers said TikTok was their preferred online video advertising platform.
• Many of these agencies expect their clients’ TikTok ad spend to grow by 50% this year.
• TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2022, with 138 million US users and 1 billion users globally.

TikTok charges less for ads than other major platforms like Meta, which may stunt its revenue but grow its advertising appeal.

Can’t touch this
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter caused a mass defection of protesting users to platforms like Mastodon. So why does TikTok seem invulnerable to political opinion?

The answer may be that advertisers care about what consumers think, and TikTok’s audience cares less about the app’s data usage than Twitter’s audience dislikes Elon Musk. The format of Tiktok’s short videos may just lend itself less to political content than other platforms’ text-based forums do.