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We watched 1,000 TikToks in one sitting. The algorithm served up a shocking number of ads, rivaling network TV.

https://www.businessinsider.nl/we-watched-1000-tiktoks-in-one-sitting-the-algorithm-served-up-a-shocking-number-of-ads-rivaling-network-tv/

TikTok has introduced affiliate content and direct links to TikTok Shop all over the app. We watched 1,000 TikToks to see if we could observe any

23 comments

EdibleFriend

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tik tok has a lot of ads.

This is the entire news story.

nightwatch_admin

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For me, this is the real news:

a shocking number of ads, rivaling network TV.

Everyone being so shocked at Tiktok ads while they have been watching as many or even more ads via their daily TV sessions.. for decades, and no one bats an eye at that?

Gamoc

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Wtf are you talking about? Arguably the rise of streaming and TV recording is purely due to the disgusting amounts of advertising on TV. Streamers start adding ads to their paid services and everyone goes "this is why we stopped watching live TV, are you stupid, Netflix?" Nobody bats an eye at TV ads? I literally haven't watched live TV for over a decade. What planet have you been living on?

nightwatch_admin

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I said that no one seems to be shocked by the amount of ads on tv, while they are so shocked by the same amount on tiktok. Which I think is rather peculiar (or hypocritical). If that was not clear, then please accept my apologies.

Gamoc

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Yes that's what I thought you said. I asked wtf you were talking about because what you were saying is so incorrect that it is like you intentionally chose the opposite of the truth, sorry if that wasn't clear.

admin

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"shocking"?

What did they expect?

xkforce

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Its business insider. They probably drank their own koolaid and assumed capitalism altruistically served up top tier content. The only other alternative piece would be justifying the deluge of ads as necessary and unavoidable to ensure the continued operation of tiktok

echodot

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So don't use it? I don't understand why people complain and then don't do anything as a result of their complaint.

Stop using the crappy platform. If you want video hosting there are literally way better options and that predate tiktok

adam_b

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fuzzzerd

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I think you're right. I hate that you are, but reality points to that being the reason these platforms continue to grow and thrive.

adam_b

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otter

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Seems like people are going off the headline only, so here are some more details. While the results are predictable, it's still worth exploring for how bad it is

The results? On TikTok, about a third of the content we watched were ads — but it didn't always feel that way.

TikTok didn't respond to a request for data on how frequently ads supposed are to on the bak site and how these ads are dispersed on the For You Page (FYP). However, a TikTok spokesperson told Insider ads supposed are to represent a small portion of the content people should see on their FYP.

Hannah's observations

Sebastian's observations

inspxtr

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yeah agreed with your sentiment. I think it’s good to have an intuition about something, but it’s much better when there’s data to back it up.

Cuz then, they can do the same with others, say Youtube or other streaming services, and start to compare the numbers, like % of ads, what types of ads, how long are the ads relative to content, how many of these ads are political, how many of these ads may be harmful, …

Having these numbers can be quite handy for other researchers and regulators to look into these issues more concretely, rather than just say, “as your brothers and sisters already know, tiktok serves ads”

F_Haxhausen

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Not much different than Facebook, instagram, tumblr. About every forty post was an advertisement. It’s why I left those.

just_another_person

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We're you expecting a different outcome?

Luisp

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The only place were the ads are better content than the content

heygooberman

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One thousand TikToks? How do you retain your sanity from watching that many?

morrowind

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muting the shitty music reduces harmful effects by 54.6%

Hillock

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That's only 3-4 hours. I think most of us would be fine doing that for our job. I certainly would watch 3-4 hours of TikTok and write down some statistics for getting paid.