President Joe Biden today signed a bill requiring TikTok to divest from Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a total ban in the US
That means. ByteDance must sell TikTok in nine months. This term can be extended by 90 days if necessary to complete a sale.
If ByteDance doesn’t divest, app stores will no longer be able to legally distribute TikTok. Interestingly, 270 days from today is January 19, 2025, which is one day before the expected inauguration of the next US president.
What TikTok says. CEO Chew Shou Zi posted a video response, vowing to challenge that ban (which he said is unconstitutional) in court, adding, “We’re not going anywhere.”
Why we care TikTok said it has 170 million users in the United States. Brands and businesses will be affected because they will no longer be able to reach these people if this TikTok ban is implemented in 2025. Any investment in TikTok marketing should probably be redirected to YouTube or Meta properties.
Impact on search and advertising. TikTok has increasingly become the starting point for search and discovery among younger users, such as Gen Z. TikTok introduced search ads in August and added Search Insights in March .
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About the author
Danny Goodwin has been the editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as a senior editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) program. Also helps schedule US SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He was previously executive editor of Search Engine Journal (2017-2022), editor-in-chief of Momentology (2014-2016), and editor from Search. Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at numerous major search conferences and virtual events, and has brought his expertise to bear in a wide range of publications and podcasts.
