On May 6, 2025, TikTok unveiled its latest advertising innovation, Pulse Core, at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) NewFronts in New York, a four-day event from May 5 to 8 that serves as the world’s largest digital content marketplace for brands and media buyers. Pulse Core expands TikTok’s Pulse Suite, aiming to deepen brand engagement by placing ads alongside trending user-generated content, categorized by themes, holidays, or custom headings. This move, alongside new partnerships with Warner Bros. Discovery, Formula 1, and Red Bull Media for its Pulse Premiere program, underscores TikTok’s aggressive push to capture advertising dollars amid regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.
Pulse Core builds on TikTok’s existing Pulse platform, which has historically allowed brands to advertise next to the top 4% of trending videos—a segment that, according to a 2024 U.S. iSpot Campaign Meta Analysis, reaches 45% of viewers not exposed to the same ad on TV. Unlike Pulse Premiere, which pairs ads with premium publisher content, Pulse Core focuses on user-generated videos, offering brands a way to tap into TikTok’s cultural zeitgeist. This includes categories like beauty, sports, and entertainment, as well as timely themes such as holidays or custom-designed segments tailored to a brand’s needs. TikTok also introduced Sponsorship Solutions, enabling brands to appear in search results for specific terms—like “Nike Air Jordan”—and Content Sponsorship Packages to target audiences across cultural categories such as live music and beauty.
The timing of TikTok’s announcement is strategic, as the platform faces a looming deadline of June 19, 2025, to divest its U.S. assets or face a ban, following a court ruling tied to its ownership by China-based ByteDance. Despite this, TikTok’s NewFronts presentation showed no signs of slowing down. The addition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Formula 1, and Red Bull Media to Pulse Premiere—joining existing partners like Condé Nast, Disney, and NBCUniversal—signals TikTok’s intent to offer advertisers premium, brand-safe environments. For instance, during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, TikTok will provide brands with on-site activations and branded content opportunities tied to Formula 1’s Pulse Premiere lineup, blending real-world events with digital reach.
TikTok’s focus on enhancing ad offerings comes at a critical juncture for the digital advertising landscape. With global digital ad spend projected to exceed $740 billion in 2025, per eMarketer, platforms like TikTok are vying for a larger share by offering innovative tools. Pulse Core leverages TikTok’s generative AI capabilities to curate trending, brand-suitable content, ensuring ads resonate with the platform’s 170 million U.S. users. However, this reliance on AI-driven curation raises questions about transparency and control—how exactly does TikTok define “brand-suitable,” and what safeguards exist to prevent ads from appearing alongside controversial user-generated content? TikTok has not fully addressed these concerns, though it has emphasized its proprietary inventory filters and third-party verification tools in past announcements.
The regulatory scrutiny adds another layer of complexity. The U.S. government’s push for ByteDance to divest TikTok stems from national security concerns over data privacy, a debate that has intensified since 2024. While President Trump recently delayed the divestiture deadline, as noted in a May 6, 2025, Deadline article, the uncertainty has creators, publishers, and advertisers reevaluating their reliance on the platform. For brands, Pulse Core and its sister offerings might be a double-edged sword: they promise access to TikTok’s massive, engaged audience, but a potential ban could disrupt long-term campaign strategies.
TikTok’s NewFronts pitch also reflects a broader industry trend of blending advertising with cultural moments. By offering brands opportunities to align with events like the Las Vegas Grand Prix or creator-driven initiatives like Beauty Month: Game Face, which highlights women in sports, TikTok positions itself as a cultural connector. Yet, critics argue this approach risks commodifying culture, potentially alienating creators who have long been the platform’s “lifeblood,” as TikTok executives have described them in past NewFronts. The 50/50 revenue-sharing model introduced with the original Pulse program in 2022 for creators with over 100,000 followers was a step toward equity, but it’s unclear if Pulse Core extends similar benefits to smaller creators driving viral trends.
For now, TikTok’s NewFronts 2025 announcements signal a bold bet on its advertising future, even as its U.S. operations remain in flux. Pulse Core and the expanded Pulse Premiere partnerships offer brands new ways to engage with audiences, but the specter of a ban looms large. As TikTok continues to innovate, it must navigate not only regulatory challenges but also the delicate balance between monetization and authenticity—a tightrope that could define its role in the evolving digital media landscape.
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