TikTok Announces New Partnership with OpenSlate to Ensure Brand Safety in Ad Placement and Content

TikTok has announced a new partnership with the brand safety platform OpenSlate to ensure ads and branded content are not displayed alongside questionable material on the platform.

As explained by TikTok:

“With the introduction of the TikTok Brand Safety Solution, verified by OpenSlate, we apply a high level of safety to verify and filter a variety of content and categories that appear next to branded ads and content. This partnership empowers brands to know and track where their ads are running through pre-campaign solutions as well as with post-campaign analytics.”

The process will essentially enable advertisers to select where their ads run on TikTok, in order to avoid potential concerns based on the content displayed.

And there are indeed advertiser concerns on his front – along with its meteoric rise, TikTok has faced a range of issues with its moderation and content policies, as well as the processes it has in place to protect users from exploitation and bullying.

The app has been banned in India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, at different times, due to content concerns, while it also been hit with significant fines over its failure to protect the data of younger users. Given the sensitive nature of such, it makes sense that some brands have been hesitant to go all-in on TikTok ads, but the new partnership with OpenSlate will provide an extra level of assurance, and oversight, to help avoid any unwanted association through ad placement.

“We’re continuously scaling and evolving our advertising solutions to meet the important needs of our brand partners. Our partnership with OpenSlate provides brands with the confidence and transparency to know that their ads are always delivered alongside brand-safe content and that risks are mitigated.” 

Then again, given that more than a third of TikTok’s US users are aged 14 or younger, you would hope that TikTok would be looking to simply remove problematic content. But within the scope of what is acceptable, the new partnership with OpenSlate will provide more control for advertisers to manage their placements.