TikTok announced new ad updates at its Advertising Week presentation on Monday, including improvements to in-stream shopping and artificial intelligence-powered product discovery, as well as an expansion of its external TikTok Ads Network.
First, TikTok is rolling out a new AI-powered shopping assistant that will help users find what they want via an in-app search.
As shown in this sequence, TikTok’s updated AI shopping experience will let users pose conversational queries in-stream to receive personalized product recommendations.
TikTok said its shopping assistant understands context, remembers user needs, and can quickly find the right product. The system also incorporates real-time information from TikTok sellers, such as sizing, availability and shopping details, to ensure a smooth purchasing process.
The experience will also incorporate Buy Direct, a seamless checkout solution for buying products in-stream, which will simplify the shopping process by enabling users to make purchases directly from the For You feed with one click.
TikTok has been working to make shopping a bigger element of its app for years. This follows the lead of the local China-based version of the platform, called Douyin, which now generates the majority of its revenue from in-stream shopping.
Maybe this more personalized, agentic shopping process will be another step toward realizing TikTok’s wider shopping ambitions.
TikTok also announced Agentic Leads, an automated tool designed to help businesses gather leads via AI-guided conversations.
The option will be available for use via direct messages, and will power new lead agent flows for advertiser-owned websites.
TikTok also announced an expansion of its TikTok Ad Network into the U.S.
TikTok Ad Network provides expanded ad placement opportunities, reaching almost 400,000 third-party and developer apps worldwide.
The expansion will provide more opportunities for U.S. advertisers to extend their campaigns, complementing TikTok’s Out of Phone display options.
TikTok also announced its own model content protocol option, which will enable developers to connect third-party AI apps to the TikTok ads system, providing expanded AI assistance options for marketers. The company also announced the expansion of its AI-powered Smart+ campaigns, which will now enable advertisers to automate their search ads across keywords and creative.
Finally, TikTok announced Smart+ Creative Selection, which will combine all forms of available creative brand assets into a single platform for ad planning.
That will include all image and video assets, AI-generated content and creator-sourced material, which will be easier to sort and use through this integration. TikTok said the process will also recommend groups of creatives that best suit different projects.
This range of new considerations for TikTok marketers could provide value heading into the end-of-year push.
