Should you advertise your business on TikTok?

Yes, if your customers already scroll there, and with your eyes open. On 5 October 2026 TikTok wrapped its ad business in AI and opened it to nearly 400,000 other apps. Three days earlier, Singapore’s police warned that fake shop ads on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram had drawn at least 246 reported cases since July, with at least $1.4 million lost. TikTok ads still work for a small business. The new part of the job is looking different from the scams running in the same feed, and being ready for the checks Singapore now asks of anyone advertising here.

Summary

The news landed in the same week, from opposite directions.

On 5 October 2026 TikTok announced a shopping assistant, one-click checkout, an AI agent that answers leads, and search ads run by its automation engine.

It also opened its ad network to US advertisers, placing ads inside nearly 400,000 apps worldwide.

TikTok’s announcement leans on Kantar’s Media Reactions 2026 report, which put TikTok first among the platforms where marketers plan to spend more in 2027, with 84 per cent already advertising there.

Then the other side of the same week.

On 2 October 2026 the Singapore Police Force said ads on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram offering cheap household goods, food and clothes had become a route into phishing pages.

At least 246 cases since July 2026, and at least $1.4 million lost.

The police had already moved in August 2026, issuing a code that requires those platforms to remove suspected scam ads and check who is advertising before an ad reaches Singapore users.

The deadline for that is 31 January 2027.

In short

TikTok made its ads easier to run on 5 October 2026: a shopping assistant, one-click checkout, AI lead capture, and automated search ads.
It opened a network of nearly 400,000 apps to advertisers, and Kantar ranks it first for planned ad spend in 2027, with 84 per cent of marketers already advertising there.
Singapore police counted at least 246 cases and at least $1.4 million lost to ads on social media since July 2026.
From 31 January 2027, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram must verify who is advertising to Singapore users, so your business needs to be easy to check.

TikTok Has Just Made Its Ads Easier To Run

Almost everything announced on 5 October 2026 takes work off the advertiser.

A shopping assistant now answers questions about size, stock and delivery inside the app.

Buy Direct lets a buyer pay from the feed in one click.

Agentic Leads chases and qualifies enquiries in direct messages.

Search ads now run through Smart+, which picks the keywords and the creative for you.

TikTok says the number of advertisers using its automation tools through the Model Context Protocol has risen by more than 200 per cent since launch.

It is getting cheaper to put something in front of people.

That is true for everyone else as well.

The Same Feed Carries Ads From Businesses That Do Not Exist

Not every business advertising on the feed exists.

On 7 October 2026 Forbes reported the other half, from internal policy documents and four people inside the company.

The report says TikTok cut the number of offences that get an advertiser banned outright from 37 down to 13 in late 2025.

Selling weapons, fake weight-loss drugs and questionable investments no longer triggers an instant ban.

Nor does a non-delivery scam, where you pay and nothing is ever sent.

The change let through upwards of 100,000 new advertisers a day who would once have been blocked, according to the documents and one source quoted.

TikTok called the report a misrepresentation and said it strictly prohibits fraudulent and deceptive advertising.

TikTok’s own release claims advertising on the platform supported $81 billion of US economic activity, with 54 million Americans buying something after watching a video.

I am not in a position to settle that argument.

What I can read is the police record here.

Social media platforms accounted for about 30 per cent of all scam cases reported in Singapore in 2025, with Facebook alone at about 18 per cent.

Cases on the designated services fell by about 37 per cent between 2024 and 2025, which the police credit to the earlier rules.

Singapore Now Requires The Platforms To Check Who Is Advertising

The code issued in August 2026 applies to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Before an ad can reach Singapore users, the platform has to check the advertiser’s identity against Government-issued records.

It also has to block suspected scam ads and take down the ones users report.

Financial ads from anyone not licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore are out.

Platforms have until 31 January 2027 to comply.

Businesses have the same deadline to become easy to verify.

A registered name, a real address and a phone number a person answers are what that check looks for.

What I Would Do With A Small TikTok Budget This Quarter

Get the business details straight first.

It costs nothing, and it is the difference between an ad that runs and one that gets held.

Then make the ad boring in the places that matter.

Show delivery times, returns, and a way to reach a human being.

Scam ads win on price because nothing is ever shipped, and you cannot beat them there.

You can beat them on the things they cannot copy.

Real photographs of the work.

An owner who replies.

A page that exists outside the app, so a careful buyer can check you.

Keep the budget small until the numbers say otherwise.

One campaign over one month will tell you whether your customers are on TikTok.

No AI tool will answer that for you.

Our take

I would not build a year around TikTok ads, and I would not write them off either.

What I like about the platform is that it makes you show the work instead of describing it.

A clip of a real customer using something is harder to fake than a headline, and that is exactly what separates a decent business from the ads around it.

What makes me careful is who else is buying the same space.

When a platform quietly makes it easier for anyone to advertise, honest businesses do not become easier to spot.

I would rather spend a small amount there every month and keep a proper profile somewhere I control than bet the whole year on it.

The question I keep coming back to is not whether TikTok ads work.

It is whether a customer would still trust my business after being burned by an ad that looked just like mine.