People go to TikTok to be entertained and discover new things. And it's not just the For You feed; TikTok also offers a powerful search experience, where users can find all kinds of information, from fashion tips and recipes to unboxing videos and product reviews.

The rise of TikTok as a top search destination represents a great opportunity for brands to reach and connect with new customers. According to a study, 58% of TikTok users discover new brands and products on the platform, 1.5x more than other platform users.¹

That's why 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 Search Ads Toggle leverages advertisers' existing In-Feed Ad creative to serve ads alongside organic search results from relevant user queries.

With the Search Ads Toggle, brands can extend the reach of their campaigns to high-intent users who are seeking information relevant to their business, driving incremental engagement and revenue potential.

What is the Search Ads Toggle?

When the Search Ad Toggle is engaged, ads are automatically created using the advertiser's existing ad content and served against relevant user queries alongside organic search results. The ads are labeled as "Sponsored" content and appear in varying positions on the results page based on relevancy, user intent (as understood from their search query) and broader learnings from other user behavior.

Why use the Search Ads Toggle?

The Search Ads Toggle provides a unique opportunity to offer rich, relevant information and experiences to our users. Users may search on TikTok to find new content, resurface older content, or look for the latest hot trending items or ideas. The Search Ads Toggle provides advertisers a new way to assist and enhance this user journey.

It also drives results. TikTok internal research shows that 70% of ad groups with the Search Ads Toggle "on" see more efficient performance when compared to not, as a result of more efficient conversions coming from search ads.²

Where will the ads appear?

The typical search journey entails a user clicking the search button at the top of the For Your feed. From there, they type in a search query, which then yields a series of search results. The ads appear among these search results. Once a user clicks on a search ad, the ad mirrors the in-feed TikTok experience, with users able to continue scrolling through the search results in the order they appear on the page.


Turning the Search Ads Toggle on and off

The Search Ads Toggle is automatically set to the "on" position whenever you set up an In-Feed Ads campaign. By keeping the toggle set to "on," search results ads will be automatically created using the advertiser's existing In-Feed Ad content and targeting, and served against relevant user queries adjacent to organic video results.

Advertisers can activate the Search Ads Toggle during campaign creation or midflight. Advertisers may choose to opt out by toggling "off" when creating a campaign. Note that activating the Search Ads Toggle midflight will not reactivate a campaign's learning phase.

Search Ads Toggle in action

Clinique UK

Clinique UK's early adoption of the Search Ads Toggle to promote its Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation allowed high-intent users to discover the brand's ad among other relevant videos on the search page. This activation proved to be valuable as Clinique reached and captured sales from users that were already interested in their product.

DIBS Beauty

During the 2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping period, DIBS Beauty utilized Search Ads Toggle to extend the reach of its Spark Ads campaign, featuring an organic video from co-founder Courtney Shield. This additional ad placement expanded DIBS Beauty's reach, making the brand visible not just on the For You feed but also in active searches for the brand or related products.

TikTok's Search Ads Toggle further powers brand discovery.

We are excited to continuously innovate the TikTok search experience and deliver more ways for brands to connect and engage with the TikTok community through search. With the Search Ads Toggle, brands can now show up next to content relevant to their business, product or service while providing users with a more personalized ad experience.

Want to learn more? Check our our Business Help Center article here.


Ready to try out the Search Ads Toggle? Sign up for TikTok Ads Manager today.

*Currently the search ads toggle is available in the US, and testing in other markets.

1. TikTok Marketing Science Global Retail Path to Purchase Study 2021 conducted by Material. 

2. TikTok Internal Data [NA, US] [July, 2023]