Furthering our commitment to brand safety and suitability with the launch of the TikTok Inventory Filter

More than a billion people from all corners of the world turn to TikTok as a source of creativity, culture and self expression. As an entertainment platform that welcomes diverse audiences of all walks of life, whether you're creating viral hits or scrolling the For You page, we want to foster a positive experience for every member of our community. To do so, we place safety as our highest priority and are constantly investing in policies, product features, people and technologies that help create an environment where everyone can feel safe to authentically express themselves.

Part of what makes TikTok so special is that brands and businesses of all sizes are an intrinsic part of our vibrant community. From product drops to viral challenges, branded thumb-stoppers are seamlessly integrated into the unique For You pages of our users. Brands on TikTok create trends, movements and cultural moments; they bring products to life through creativity and authenticity; and, as a result, they are able to meaningfully engage with our community in ways they can't do anywhere else.

At TikTok, we're committed to creating the most trusted entertainment platform for all brands to reach their audiences. First and foremost, fostering that trust starts with creating a safe environment for our community. We also recognize that each brand has unique priorities, which means that it's important that they have the ability to effectively manage the environment where their ads show up.

That's why we're thrilled to introduce the TikTok Inventory Filter, an innovative brand safety and suitability solution that provides advertisers with more control over the content that appears adjacent to their In-Feed Ads on the For You page. Now available in 25 countries and 15+ languages, the TikTok Inventory Filter is both a major milestone for brand safety and suitability on TikTok and a foundational technology for future advertising offerings.

"At TikTok, we strive to create meaningful tools that empower brands to connect with our community and drive business impact. When we innovate for advertisers - from ideation through to implementation - brand safety, suitability and media effectiveness are never afterthoughts, but instead baked into our processes every step of the way," said Jon Schmucler, Global Head of Product Marketing, Measurement at TikTok. "With the launch of the TikTok Inventory Filter, we are taking a major step forward with our ability to offer brands even more robust control over their advertising environment, all while laying a strong technical foundation for future innovation in suitability, customization and measurement for our brand partners."

How does it work?

Just like our users, brands are incredibly diverse - each with their own identity, mission and values. What follows is that each brand may think differently about the nature of the environment in which they choose to advertise. TikTok's Community Guidelines are built with the safety of all of our users in mind, though sometimes content that is not violative still might not resonate with a particular brand's identity. For example, a family-oriented brand might not want to appear next to videos containing even mild or comedic violence, whereas an advertiser promoting an action movie could benefit from showing up in that environment.

Enter the TikTok Inventory Filter, a proprietary solution embedded directly in the TikTok Ads Manager, that empowers advertisers with more control over where their ads appear on TikTok.

So what does that mean, exactly?

Let's start by breaking down the name, which is actually quite straightforward. For advertisers, "TikTok Inventory" can be understood as all content posted by TikTok users that is eligible to appear next to an ad. While all content on our platform goes through careful moderation against our Community Guidelines, Terms and Conditions, and Intellectual Property Policy, the TikTok Inventory Filter offers additional layers of content filtration to help brands achieve their own unique goals by choosing the type of UGC they'd like adjacent to their branded content.

Powered by advanced machine learning technology, the TikTok Inventory Filter gives advertisers access to three distinct tiers of video inventory - Expanded, Standard and Limited - which are informed by TikTok's own policies and the industry-standard GARM Brand Safety Floor and Brand Suitability Framework. The desired tier can be selected within the TikTok Ads Manager when setting up a campaign.

"With the rapid evolution of brand safety and suitability in digital advertising, it is more important than ever that platforms not only create a safe environment for advertisers, but also provide them the solutions to effectively mitigate potential reputational risk at scale. We're thrilled to see all that TikTok has achieved in such a short time and are encouraged that the new TikTok Inventory Filter technology was built in line with GARM standards. As an integral partner to GARM in our efforts to promote a healthier digital ecosystem, TikTok has continually demonstrated a strong commitment to leadership - and this latest solution is another testament to their ongoing investment in creating a positive environment for brands."

- Rob Rakowitz, Initiative Lead - Global Initiative Lead for GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media)

What's in the three inventory tiers?

Developed through deep technological innovation, consultation with industry partners, and analysis of billions of video impressions, the TikTok Inventory Filter classifies UGC at scale by analyzing text, audio, video and images to assign it to the appropriate inventory tier. What's more, the technology is able to learn in real time to further hone classification and evolve with emerging content trends. This robust application of machine learning is particularly vital on TikTok where content is immersive, visual, sound-on and viral.

With the TikTok Inventory Filter, each tier contains videos that have been evaluated based on risk levels which are informed by industry-leading standards like GARM's floor and framework; these are:

• Floor Content: content that violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and/or Intellectual Property Policy.

• High Risk Content: glamorization or gratuitous depiction of mature themes

• Medium Risk Content: fictional or entertainment depiction of mature themes

• Low Risk Content: educational depiction of mature themes

Considering these levels of content categorization, the TikTok Inventory Filter will then assess which videos to exclude from a given tier. As a result, the maturity of the themes present in each tier will vary accordingly as follows:

• Expanded Inventory: Your ads will not appear next to explicitly inappropriate content, but they may appear next to content that features mature themes.

• Standard Inventory: Excludes "Floor" and "High Risk" content. Ads will appear next to content that is appropriate for most brands, but may contain some mature themes.

• Limited Inventory: Excludes all risk levels (from "Floor" to "Low Risk"). Ads will appear next to content that does not contain mature themes.

To learn more about the policy framework for the TikTok Inventory Filter and the types of content excluded in each tier, check out our Help Center article.

How effective is the solution? 

Hundreds of major brands leveraged the TikTok Inventory Filter during the testing period, with every campaign seeing exceptional results, to the tune of 95%-99%+ "safe delivery rates"*. While anyone using the solution can receive post-campaign delivery insights from TikTok, we have also partnered with leading brand safety measurement company Zefr, who brands can leverage to receive independent third-party verification of brand safety and suitability, mapped directly to GARM's standards. We're proud to say that every campaign measured by Zefr to date has returned brand safety and suitability rates averaging between 95%-99.8%, with many global brands, including Unilever, seeing 99.99%+ returns across both metrics.**

"TikTok is a platform that drives cultural moments and virality, and Rexona is always seeking new and innovative ways to reach audiences that have their pulse on the latest trends. Combining our own innovation with TikTok's proved to be the perfect match, leading to great results in both awareness and brand recall.

Brand Safety and Suitability are top priorities for Unilever, and we thoroughly evaluate any new advertising channel to ensure our ads show up in the right environment. The TikTok Inventory Filter's adjacency controls provided us with an added level of confidence, and we were pleased to see the efficacy of the solution with Zefr reporting Brand Safety and Suitability rates of 99.9%."

- Vivian Genachi, Personal Care Media Manager for Brazil, Unilever

“Global advertisers continue to prioritize brand safety and suitability controls, without constraining campaign performance and reach from legacy approaches like keyword blocklists. As a TikTok Brand Safety and Suitability measurement partner, Zefr is encouraged by TikTok’s continued innovation and commitment to safety with the release of Inventory Filters, which allow advertisers to exert even more control on their content adjacency on the platform.”

- Rich Raddon, co-founder and co-CEO of Zefr

What's next in brand safety and suitability at TikTok? 

At TikTok we're always committed to creating the best possible experience for our users and brands alike, and we'll continue to innovate in brand safety and suitability to bring new tools to market that give advertisers more control over the environment in which their ads are served.

In the months to come, we will be expanding the TikTok Inventory Filter offering, bringing it to more markets and introducing additional campaign objectives. Looking to the future, we will be testing new technical iterations and more customization options for brands within the solution. For instance, we will work to increase efficacy by evolving our technology to respond faster and with greater accuracy to existing and emergent trends. To provide advertisers more options for peace of mind through independent verification, we will be onboarding additional partners for post-campaign measurement. Finally, we will begin standardizing our brand safety and suitability offering across all ad products, with TikTok Inventory Filter being a default feature for products like TikTok Pulse and Branded Mission.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: there is no finish line when it comes to brand safety and suitability, and we're excited to keep evolving our policies, practices and products to create the most trusted entertainment platform for brands.

The TikTok Inventory Filter is now available in the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

*"Safe Delivery Rate" = impressions that the TikTok Inventory Filter deemed "safe" divided by overall impressions.

**"Brand Safe Rate" = impressions that Zefr independently verifies as "brand safe" against the GARM Brand Safety Floor criteria, divided by overall impressions.

"Brand Suitability Rate" = impressions that Zefr independently verifies as "suitable" against the GARM Brand Suitability Framework criteria, divided by overall impressions.