U.S. TikTok Ban Puts Advertisers On Edge As Deadline Looms

As the threat of a U.S. ban on TikTok edges closer, advertisers heavily reliant on the Chinese-owned app scrambled this week to devise contingency plans, realizing that a resolution to the crisis may not come in time. With the ban set to take effect on Sunday, marketing executives are grappling with the immediate fallout of potentially losing access to a platform that has become a cornerstone of digital advertising.

Kerry Perse, founder of Influence & Inspire Consulting and former head of social media at Omnicom Group’s OMD, described the situation as a “hair on fire” moment for the advertising world. For months, industry insiders had held onto the hope that a solution would materialize to keep the popular short-video app operational in the U.S. “It seemed unbelievable even a few weeks ago to imagine that there would be no TikTok,” Perse said. “We all thought any access issues would be slow and drawn-out.”

The looming crisis stems from a January 19 deadline imposed on ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell its U.S. operations or face an unprecedented national security ban on the app. TikTok, which boasts 170 million American users, is preparing to shut down its U.S. services on Sunday unless a last-minute reprieve emerges.

Adding to the uncertainty, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser confirmed that the new administration plans to implement measures to prevent TikTok from “going dark.” However, the legal feasibility of such actions, especially with Trump set to take office on Monday, remains unclear.

For now, advertisers are focused on the financial ramifications. If the ban proceeds, more than $11 billion in annual ad spend is up for grabs, according to marketing group WARC Media. Industry insiders predict that the majority of this spending will be funneled into rival platforms, such as Meta’s Instagram and Alphabet’s YouTube Shorts, where advertisers have already established a presence in the short-video ad space.

Despite the rapidly approaching deadline, TikTok’s staff appeared uncertain about the platform’s future, sources told. Although the company has yet to make an official statement, two sources revealed that TikTok is offering favorable refund terms to advertisers in the event that services are halted mid-campaign. This comes as TikTok continues to promote new features to its advertising clients, including a bulk-advertisement tool set to launch in test form this week.

Meanwhile, TikTok’s presence at global events appears unaffected by the looming ban. The company plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, just after hosting a series of cocktail parties at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month.

As uncertainty mounts, many brands and content creators are taking precautionary steps, downloading their TikTok data in case the app becomes inaccessible. Influencers, in particular, are urging their followers to safeguard their content. Maria Slate, an influencer who promotes beauty products and cereal, posted a video advising her nearly 16,000 followers on how to download their data to prevent losing years of work. “Here’s how to download your TikTok data so you don’t lose literally everything you’ve had from the past five years,” Slate said, captioning the video with the words “it’s fine, I’m fine.”

This sense of urgency marks a stark contrast to the prevailing sentiment just a month ago when many advertisers expressed no immediate concern despite a U.S. appeals court ruling in favor of the ban. At that time, TikTok was on track to increase ad spending by 57% in the first two months of 2025, according to research firm Guideline.ai.

TikTok’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. The platform has grown from capturing just 2% of U.S. social media ad spend in 2020 to a commanding 20% share today, according to Guideline.ai. Its success has been driven in part by the platform’s cultivation of influencers and its integration with online shopping, positioning it as a key driver of e-commerce. E-Marketer projects that by the end of 2024, 43.8% of U.S. TikTok users will have made a purchase on the platform, surpassing similar figures for Facebook and Instagram.

As the clock ticks down to Sunday, advertisers are left with little time to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape, with billions in advertising dollars and the future of a major social media platform hanging in the balance.