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On January 21, 2026, TikTok dropped three updates that change how you run paid campaigns: Auto-select now picks your best-performing creative automatically, Traffic campaigns optimize for engagement instead of just clicks, and you can finally see TikTok Shop + website conversions in one place. Then on January 22, the new ownership structure launched with updated privacy terms.
If you're managing TikTok ads in 2026, here's what changed and how to use it.
Auto-Select Creative: Smart+ Now Tests Videos for You
TikTok's Smart+ campaigns previously let you upload 20 videos and hoped the AI picked winners. You had zero visibility into which hooks or creators drove results.
Auto-select scans your existing ad assets AND eligible creator content from TikTok One, then recommends which creatives will perform best. TikTok handles creator payments automatically.
But has a limitation, auto-select currently only works for Smart+ App campaigns. Running Smart+ Web or Traffic? You're still manually selecting creative.
How it picks videos:
- Scene similarity analysis (avoids repetitive content)
- Historical performance patterns
- Pre-approved creator content from TikTok One marketplace
For example, a brand with 30 affiliate creators posting monthly would previously manually test all videos across placements. Auto-select now rotates everything automatically and allocates budget to winners.
Setup in TikTok Ads Manager:
- Create Smart+ App Campaign
- Creative section → Toggle "Auto-select" ON
- Set eligibility rules (brand safety filters, content restrictions)
- Upload 5-10 video variations or authorize creator content
Skip Auto-select if you're a small business with 2-3 static ads and no creator partnerships. The feature needs volume to work.
For more context on Smart+ campaign structure and the October 2025 control updates, check out our complete Smart+ guide.
Traffic Campaigns Now Optimize for Consideration (Not Just Clicks)
For three years, TikTok's Traffic objective delivered one thing: clicks. You optimized for landing page views, and TikTok found users most likely to tap your ad.
The January 21 update adds a toggle for "consideration signals" that fundamentally changes targeting.
What consideration signals means:
- Cost per consideration: Optimizes for users who like, share, comment, search your brand, or repeatedly watch videos
- Cost per new buyer: Targets people who haven't purchased in the past 180 days
A $0.50 CPC means nothing if 90% of clicks bounce in 3 seconds. Consideration signals prioritize engaged users over cheap clicks.
Early testers report results following this pattern:
The key insight: CPC increases but CPA can drop significantly because consideration-optimized traffic engages more deeply with landing page content.
When to use consideration signals:
- Products over $100 (longer purchase cycles need engagement first)
- B2B services where decision-makers research before converting
- New brand launches building awareness + intent simultaneously
When to skip:
- Impulse purchases under $30
- Flash sales or event tickets (immediate conversion matters more)
- Direct response where click volume matters more than engagement quality
Setup: Create Traffic Campaign → Website destination → Ad Group settings → Toggle "Consideration signals" ON → Choose optimization (consideration or new buyer)
Real example from TikTok case studies: A B2B software company running TikTok ads in 2026 saw 23 conversions with default settings (7-day click, 1-day view attribution). They switched to consideration signals with 28-day click attribution. Conversions jumped to 87. Same budget, same ads. TikTok prioritized users more likely to convert.
Market Scope Shows TikTok Shop + Website Funnels Together
Before January 2026, TikTok Market Scope only showed one purchase path at a time. You could view TikTok Shop conversions OR website conversions, never both.
Market Scope now displays two distinct funnels side by side: in-app TikTok Shop purchases and off-platform website conversions.
New features:
- Commerce brands: Combined Shop + website funnel, attribution across both paths
- Theatrical advertisers: Title-level data (track awareness → ticket purchases per movie/show)
- Telecom brands: Industry Analysis showing user migration between providers
To access, you must request it through your TikTok Partner. Most requests require a monthly spend of $10,000 or more.
For brands running TikTok Shop alongside traditional TikTok ads 2026 campaigns, this connects with other Shop metrics we covered in our TikTok Shop Analytics guide.
Attribution Windows: 79% of Conversions You're Missing
TikTok's default attribution window (7-day click, 1-day view) severely undercounts conversions.
Internal TikTok post-purchase surveys found 79% of TikTok-attributed conversions were missing from last-click attribution models.
Someone sees your TikTok ad Tuesday, searches your brand on Google Friday, clicks a Google ad, buys. Google Analytics credits Google. Your PPC dashboard shows a Google conversion. TikTok shows zero.
Performance Comparison tool in TikTok Ads Manager reveals these hidden conversions.
Navigate to: TikTok Ads Manager → Analytics → Performance Comparison → Select longer attribution windows (14-day or 28-day click)
Attribution window recommendations by product price:
In TikTok's assisted conversion case studies, advertisers switching from 7-day to 28-day attribution discovered 63-79% more conversions they weren't crediting to TikTok. Some were planning to cut TikTok budget. This data reversed those decisions.
For more on tracking engagement signals that impact attribution, see our TikTok Algorithm guide which covers completion rates and how content performance affects conversion tracking.
How to Implement These Updates
Test Auto-Select Without Killing Performance
Don't migrate all campaigns immediately. Test strategically.
Week 1-2: Run current manual campaigns for 10 days, export performance data, note CPA, ROAS, and conversion volume
Week 3: Launch ONE Smart+ App campaign with Auto-select, upload 5-10 video variations (15-60 seconds), match budget to baseline
Week 4-5: Compare Smart+ vs. manual campaigns, check Performance Comparison for longer attribution windows, track which creatives Auto-select prioritized
If Smart+ delivers equal or better CPA at equal or higher volume, shift more budget.
Add Consideration Signals to Traffic Campaigns
You can't toggle this on for existing campaigns. Duplicate instead.
- TikTok Ads Manager → Select best-performing Traffic campaign → Duplicate
- New campaign → Ad Group settings → Toggle "Consideration signals" ON
- Choose optimization: cost per consideration OR cost per new buyer
- Increase budget 20% (consideration traffic costs more per click but converts better)
- Run both simultaneously for 14 days, compare results
Check Your Attribution Windows (2-Minute Check)
This reveals conversions you're already driving but not seeing in default reports.
- TikTok Ads Manager → Analytics → Performance Comparison
- Select your current best campaign
- Change attribution from default (7-day click, 1-day view) to 28-day click, 7-day view
- Compare conversion counts
If the number jumps significantly, you're undervaluing TikTok in your channel mix.
Common Issues With TikTok Ads 2026 Updates
Auto-select keeps choosing the same 3 videos
Limited creative variety or similar hooks/scenes across videos causes this. Upload creatives with dramatically different opening hooks (question vs. bold claim vs. pattern interrupt), environments (studio vs. outdoor vs. UGC), and talent (founder vs. customers vs. no people). TikTok's scene similarity analysis clusters similar videos. If 15 of your 20 videos are "person talking to camera in office," Auto-select treats them as identical.
Consideration signals campaign spent $2K with zero conversions
Your conversion event is likely too far down the funnel. If you're optimizing for "Purchase" on a $500 product requiring 3-4 touchpoints, TikTok needs 50+ conversions in the learning phase to optimize. Change conversion event to "Add to Cart" or "Initiate Checkout" for the first 2-3 weeks. Once you hit 50+ events, switch to Purchase.
USDS Joint Venture: What Changed for Advertisers
On January 22, 2026, TikTok's U.S. operations officially transferred to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC (80.1% American-owned: Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX each hold 15%, ByteDance keeps 19.9%).
Privacy policy changes:
- GPS-level location data collection (with user permission)
- Cross-platform ad serving (TikTok can use your data to serve ads on other platforms)
More precise location targeting for local businesses, but users must opt in. TikTok is building cross-platform attribution similar to Meta's Advantage+ or Google's Performance Max.
Users can opt out: Settings → Privacy → Ads → "Off-TikTok Ads" → Disable
No immediate action required. Update your privacy policy if you're collecting TikTok Pixel data. Change entity name from "TikTok Inc." to "TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC" in data processing agreements.
Tracking These Metrics Across Platforms
If you're running TikTok ads 2026 campaigns alongside Google Ads and Facebook, your metrics live in four places: TikTok Ads Manager, TikTok Seller Center (if using Shop), Market Scope (if you have access), and GA4.
Manual consolidation means exporting CSVs from each platform weekly, which takes 2-3 hours for 5+ active campaigns.
You can automate this by connecting TikTok Ads data directly to Google Sheets, Looker Studio, BigQuery, or Power BI. Pulling TikTok Ads spend, conversions, and new buyer costs into the same dashboard as Google Analytics data lets you compare landing page behavior against what TikTok reports without manual exports.
Want to automate this? Try Dataslayer free for 15 days to connect TikTok Ads alongside Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and 45+ other sources.
FAQ
Can I use Auto-select with static image ads?
No, Auto-select only works with video creative. If you're running static image campaigns, you'll continue selecting images manually.
Will the USDS ownership change affect my Pixel tracking?
No, the TikTok Pixel code didn't change. All historical campaign data, audiences, and pixel events transferred to the new entity automatically.
Do I lose historical data when switching to consideration signals?
No. When you duplicate a campaign and toggle consideration signals ON, the new campaign retains audience learning from your account. TikTok's algorithm uses your existing conversion history to optimize the new campaign faster.
Can I combine Auto-select + manual creative selection in one campaign?
No, it's either/or. Auto-select manages all creative selection and rotation. If you want to manually force specific videos to run, create a separate campaign without Auto-select enabled.
Why does TikTok show more conversions than Google Analytics?
TikTok uses TikTok Pixel + post-purchase surveys with view-through attribution. GA4 uses last-click attribution. Pull GA4 report (Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition → Filter "tiktok" source), change GA4 attribution model to "Data-driven" instead of last-click, add UTM parameters to all TikTok ads. Expected gap: TikTok will still show 15-25% more conversions because they count view-through attribution.
Should I switch all my Traffic campaigns to consideration signals immediately?
No. Test with one duplicated campaign first. Consideration signals work best for products over $100 or B2B services with longer sales cycles. For impulse purchases under $30, standard Traffic optimization may perform better.
