TikTok makes major changes to Ads in order to comply with EU regulations

TikTok is implementing major changes to its ad products in Europe to ensure it meets EU regulations.

The platform plans to significantly reduce targeted advertising capabilities, while ads that violate its rules will be put on global bans.

Under the Digital Services Act, the platform is also going to provide users with additional reporting options and give more clarity to creators about its content moderation decisions.

Why we care. It’s more important than ever for marketers to keep up-to-date with TikTok’s policies as an ad being banned worldwide would be disastrous; reach and conversions would plummet, ROI would fall and it could also cause reputational damage. Changes to targeted advertising may also negatively impact reach. This could make you consider whether ad space in an alternative platform is more profitable.

Updates. TikTok announced several changes to its platform that will impact the user experience int he EU. These include:

• Additional reporting – TikTok users in the EU will now be able to report ads they believe are illegal. The platform is rolling out new features to simplify this process, including introducing complaint categories such as hate speech, harassment and financial crimes.
• Global bans – If content is found to break TikTok’s Community Guidelines, it will be removed from the platform globally. The platform will remove content that does not violate its guidelines, but that violates the law in that particular country.
• Option to turn off personalisation – When personalisation is turned off by users in the EU, the ‘For You’ and ‘LIVE’ feeds will show popular videos from both where live and around the world – as opposed to content based on their personal interests.
• More transparency – TikTok plans to share more details about its content moderation decisions with creators, including whether AI decided the action taken. Get the daily newsletter that search marketers depend on. A spokesperson stated:
• “The European Union has established a clear vision of platform regulation through the Digital Services Act. We are providing additional information following our July updates about our Research API, Commercial Content Library and the Act. “Our mission is inspire creativity and bring happiness. “We know that the safety, security, and privacy of our European Community is crucial to achieving this goal.”

Deep dive. Read TikTok’s

• announcement in full for more information.
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• About the author

Nicola Agius, who joined Search Engine Land in 2023, is the Paid Media editor. She is responsible for paid search, social media, retail and other areas. She was previously the SEO Director for Jungle Creations, overseeing multiple websites’ editorial strategy. She has worked in journalism for over 15 years and previously at OK! She has worked at OK! Magazine (2010-2014), Mail Online(2014-2015), Mirror(2015-2017), Digital Spy(2017) and The Sun (2018). She has also worked with SEO agency Blue Array in the past to co-author a bestselling Amazon book titled ‘Mastering Inhouse SEO’.