The latest: TikTok ad campaigns resume in U.S. as app comes back online
Advertisers and creators are settling into the new reality that TikTok is officially allowed to be banned in the U.S., and what that means for the beloved platform that built brands and careers for many.
On Friday, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law set to effectively ban the app, advertisers learned that TikTok’s ads service would shut down Sunday, giving them just one more day to place orders to get in front of a large audience as people were expected to flood the app to witness its potential final countdown. For many advertisers and creators, the mood was partly one of doom, fearing losing an app that catered to 170 million people in the U.S. There also was a defiant vibe driving users to soak up every moment of screen time.
“It looks like, most likely, TikTok will go dark on Sunday,” said Evan Horowitz, co-founder and CEO of creative agency Movers+Shakers. “We don’t know if that will happen. It might last a day. It might last a week. It might last forever. But today’s ruling doesn’t change anything. Brands still need to be preparing for those scenarios—that TikTok does endure, or that TikTok goes away.”
Even before the Supreme Court issued its ruling, thousands of TikTok users had spent the week reminiscing on their favorite dance trends, memes and viral moments to come out of the platform. Advertisers were gearing up for a grand exit, planning media buys up until the last minute, before anticipating a shutdown of the powerful platform come Sunday. Even if there was hope the app could be restored, and some optimistic scenarios to consider, brands were behaving as if it were closing time.
“We plan to allow all live TikTok campaigns to continue running [until the deadline],” said Amy Rumpler, senior VP of search and social at ad tech platform Basis Technologies. “This allows us to take advantage of the extra time users are expected to spend on the app, leading up to the ban date.”
“Our TikTok rep has already confirmed for us that advertising will not be impacted ahead of the ban and campaign and performance data will still be accessible via TikTok ad accounts even after the ban date,” Rumpler said.
TikTok ban law—everything marketers and agencies need to know
TikTok’s future is hardly certain. There was still hope President-elect Donald Trump would somehow save the app on his first day in office Monday. But it was unclear if the app would “go dark” if no one interferes. Last week, TikTok’s attorney argued in the appeal before the Supreme Court that TikTok would shut down if the justices upheld the ban.
Advertisers have been told ads would stop running and TikTok Shop would no longer remain a sales channel if the ban lasts, they told Ad Age.