TikTok tightens the screws: which phrase can now cost you your account
TikTok has launched a massive war against driving traffic off-platform to external sites and networks. The social network is trying to retain its audience by any means possible. The main reason for such strict measures is keeping viewers inside the app and protecting the platform's own revenue.
TikTok is promoting its own shops and wants to monetize users directly. It makes no sense for the platform to share high-paying users. Therefore, the algorithm treats any off-platform redirection as a threat and penalizes the account with a drop in reach.
For buyers and creators who have been draining traffic from the social network for years, this means a complete overhaul of their usual campaign setups.
How the new filters work
TikTok has implemented speech and text recognition algorithms that scan live streams and new videos in real time. Previously, moderation mostly focused on text overlays on videos or direct links in the comments. Now, the system recognizes verbal calls to action.
If a creator insistently urges viewers during a stream or in the video itself to move to Telegram, message them on WhatsApp, or constantly repeats the phrase "Link in description", the algorithms penalize the account. The reach of fresh publications drops to zero, videos stop hitting the For You feed, and creators get account bans for repeated violations.
How creators and buyers can survive now
For content creators and affiliate marketers, the new filters have created a major problem. Usual calls to action now burn through consumables and slash reach. To avoid triggering moderation, creatives have to come up with complex verbal workarounds, use visual cues, or swap direct calls to action for similar-sounding associations.
Initial tests show that driving traffic using old methods no longer works. To keep reach and conversion rates from dropping, creators have to completely rewrite video scripts, include new workaround phrases, and strictly monitor every single word during live streams.
