Budget allocation is shifting away from traditional search engine marketing (SEM). Gen Z search behaviour has made TikTok Search Ads a core channel for upper-to-mid funnel discovery, forcing brands to optimize short-form video SEO alongside traditional web SEO. Simultaneously, Retail Media Networks (Walmart Connect, Amazon Ads, Target Roundel) continue to pull ad dollars from standard display networks due to closed-loop attribution tied directly to sales data.
TikTok Search becomes a discovery channel
For Gen Z and younger millennial audiences, TikTok is now a primary search platform. Instead of typing a query into Google, users search TikTok for reviews, tutorials, product recommendations, and lifestyle inspiration. TikTok Search surfaces short-form videos, creator recommendations, and user-generated content that often feels more authentic than traditional advertising.
Brands have taken notice. TikTok Search Ads allow marketers to surface sponsored videos at the top of search results when users search relevant keywords. For example, a casino or betting brand can bid on searches like “best sportsbooks,” “crypto betting,” or “no-deposit casino bonuses” and appear prominently in results when Gen Z users search these terms.
This channel has become increasingly important for upper-funnel awareness and discovery. Many users who discover a brand on TikTok search will then conduct web searches or direct visits. The result: marketing teams must now optimize for both TikTok SEO (hashtag strategy, trending sounds, video format) and traditional web SEO, creating fragmented discovery ecosystems.
TikTok Search SEO fundamentals
Like traditional SEO, TikTok Search has optimization signals: video metadata (caption, hashtags, sounds used), engagement metrics (views, shares, comments, saves), creator credibility (follower count, engagement rate, content consistency), video quality and production value, and recency (newer videos can outrank older content).
Organic TikTok strategy for brands involves: producing regular short-form video content addressing target audience questions and interests, using trending sounds and hashtags strategically, creating authentic, entertaining content (not overtly promotional), encouraging user-generated content and creator partnerships, and monitoring TikTok Analytics to understand which video types drive engagement and conversions.
For high-trust content like gambling and betting reviews, TikTok SEO means creating educational videos explaining how to choose a sportsbook, demonstrating betting interfaces, showing payment processes, or comparing casino bonuses. Authentic creator content that educates and entertains outperforms polished branded content on TikTok.
Retail Media Networks drain traditional display budgets
Retail Media Networks (RMNs) like Walmart Connect, Amazon Ads, and Target Roundel allow brands to advertise on and around retailers’ e-commerce platforms. Unlike third-party ad networks (Google Display Network, programmatic display) that rely on audience data and proxied intent signals, RMNs offer something powerful: first-party purchase data and closed-loop attribution.
When a brand advertises on Amazon Ads, they can see exactly which users clicked the ad and completed a purchase. This closed-loop attribution is unprecedented for most advertising channels. As a result, RMN budgets are growing while traditional display network budgets shrink.
Walmart Connect, which grew from near-zero to a multi-billion-dollar business in just a few years, is proof that purchase-level attribution drives ad spend. Marketers prefer channels where they can measure ROI directly tied to revenue, even if reach is smaller.
How RMNs work for affiliates and publishers
For affiliate publishers and content sites, the rise of RMNs presents both opportunity and challenge. Opportunity: affiliate sites partnered with major retailers (Amazon Associates, Walmart Affiliates, Target) can benefit from increased retail ad spend, as brands invest in RMNs and those investments increase traffic and engagement on retail platforms where affiliates earn commissions.
Challenge: brands investing in RMNs for closed-loop attribution may reduce spend on affiliate traffic sources. A casino or sportsbook that previously relied on affiliate review sites for customer acquisition might instead invest in direct retail partnerships or native checkout integrations (via Agentic Commerce). This reduces affiliate opportunity.
Publishers should: maintain affiliate relationships with retailers offering RMN capabilities, optimize content for retail search (Amazon search, Walmart search), build proprietary first-party data assets to compete with RMN attribution, and explore direct partnerships with brands to provide unique attribution and audience data not available through standard RMNs.
Channel mix strategy for 2026 and beyond
Forward-looking marketing teams should allocate budgets across these channels based on audience, product, and attribution capability:
TikTok Search (Gen Z discovery): 15–25% of upper-funnel budget, prioritizing organic content production and TikTok Search Ads for high-intent keywords.
Retail Media Networks (closed-loop purchase data): 30–40% of budget, focused on product-driven verticals (e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods) where RMN attribution is robust.
Paid Search (Google, Bing): 20–30% of budget, for high-intent, commercial-ready keywords and brand-protection campaigns.
AI Agentic Commerce (ChatGPT Instant Checkout, Google UCP): 5–10% of budget (growing), as these channels mature and conversion data becomes available.
Programmatic Display and Social Ads (Meta, TikTok Ads): 10–20% of budget for awareness and retargeting, with reduced reliance on third-party data.
Related Resources
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