About Automatic Search Placement

Automatic Search Placement (formerly Search Ads Toggle) allows you to extend your in-feed advertising to the TikTok search results page. Automatic Search Placement helps you reach users who are searching for specific terms related to your product or service. Search ads will show as "Sponsored" content and show within the search results page in different positions. Automatic Search Placement extends in-feed video campaigns allowing an additional ad placement within the TikTok search engine results page (SERP) and is not a traditional keyword-based search ads offering.

For example, let's say you sell and have TikTok ad content about tennis shoes, and a user is searching for tennis shoes. Search Ads helps streamline user discovery journey by ensuring your relevant ads appear when they search for terms related to your business. In this way, Search Ads make it easier for users to find what they are searching for and for businesses to connect with their customers.

Search Ads are automatically created using the advertiser's existing in-feed video ad content and targeting, and serve against relevant user queries alongside organic search results.

There are many ways users can access search. The "For You" tab and the "Friends" tab are some of the most prominent ways for users to access search.

See below the typical user journey from the "For You" tab to the search results page:

See below the typical user journey from the "Friends" tab:

Availability

• Platform: TikTok Ads Manager

• Buying type: Auction only

• Country: Global

• Language Support: English

• Advertising Objectives: (*Ads will only serve on the Search Feed and NOT on the Search Results Page )

  • Website conversions

  • Lead generation

  • Traffic

  • App promotion

  • Reach*

  • Video views*

  • Community interactions*

Default Settings

Note: When creating new campaigns, Automatic Search Placement will by default set to on.

It is not guaranteed that enabling Automatic Search Placement will result in your ads being delivered within the TikTok search results page as there are a number of different factors which impact if an ad is displayed or not.

Enabling this setting allows your ad to be considered for search placement. The TikTok Search Ads delivery system takes into account many factors, such as ad relevancy to the search query, metadata, budgets, competition, etc. to decide which ad to serve for a specific search query.

Features and Reporting

• Automatic Search Placement uses existing in-feed video campaign settings and assets such as targeting, budget, and creative assets.

  • Automatic Search Placement automatically extends your reach to search traffic using your in-feed auction campaign settings and assets to deliver ads on the TikTok search results page.

• Advertisers can leverage the search terms report as well as custom reports to review search ads performance.

  • TikTok Ads Manager reporting gives insights into search terms in addition to Search Ads specific metrics including cost, impressions, and more.

    
    
    

  • To access reporting, go to the Custom reports and Search Terms sections.

  • To review Search specific performance Custom reports:

    1. Go to Dimensions and click Targeting.

    2. Select Ad type and from Reporting select the Custom report that you want.

  • This dimension enables advertisers to see a breakdown between search and in-feed. Note that not all metrics are supported in Automatic Search Placement reporting and will thus be greyed out.

    
    
    

• Search Ads offers brand safety tools that are specific to your search.

  • Negative Keywords are commonly used to help manage performance and for brand safety optimization.

    

To learn more about negative keyword match types, refer to About negative keyword match types.