TikTok in-feed ads in 2026: specs, captions and the timed button

On the For You page, a TikTok ad shares the feed with everything else, and TikTok works hard to keep it that way. The ad gets the same rail of likes and shares down the right, the same white caption and the same sound line as any other video. That is deliberate, because an ad that looks like an ad is swiped away within a second. It also means the raw technical specs matter less here than on other platforms, while the details surrounding the video matter more.

The figures in this guide are taken from TikTok's Ads Manager help pages, as checked in September 2026.

Video formats and files

For auction in-feed ads, TikTok recommends vertical 9:16 video at 540 by 960 pixels or larger. Horizontal 16:9 at 960 by 540 or larger and square at 640 by 640 or larger are accepted too, but anything that is not vertical plays in the centre of the screen surrounded by black, which looks out of place on the For You page.

• File types: MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP or AVI, no larger than 500 MB, with a bitrate of 516 kbps or more.
• Length: up to 10 minutes for auction ads. For Spark Ads, which promote an existing post, TikTok's own pages conflict: the in-feed specs give no limit, while the Spark Ads overview says 10 minutes.
• Reservation in-feed ads, bought ahead of time at a fixed price, have tighter rules: 5 to 60 seconds long, with 9 to 15 recommended, a bitrate of at least 2,500 kbps, sound required and no watermarks.
• Steer clear of white or transparent backgrounds. TikTok's caption and buttons are white and vanish against them.

Still images run as a carousel rather than a single picture: between 2 and 35 images, with up to 20 displayed, at 1200 by 628, 640 by 640 or 720 by 1280. Music is required and loops, and a single caption and button apply to every image.

Captions, names and sound

The caption appears in white, in a fixed font, across the lower part of the video. On ads that are not Spark Ads it cannot include clickable links, @ mentions or hashtags, so the call to action has to live in the button.

• Caption length: TikTok recommends 100 characters or fewer, or 50 for Chinese, Japanese or Korean. Longer captions are folded away behind more.
• Spark Ads use the original post's caption, which TikTok pulls in up to 150 characters.
• Account name: a single line of no more than 20 characters, or 10 in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
• Profile picture: 98 by 98 pixels, under 50 KB, with the key part inside the central 66 by 66, because it is shown as a circle.
• Sound: on ads that are not Spark Ads, the sound line says Promoted Music and cannot be changed.

A button that arrives in stages

The call to action appears in three places: along the bottom of the ad as it plays, in the comments panel and at the end of the video. The first is the one people notice, and it behaves differently from buttons on other platforms. The words come first; then the button fills with a colour TikTok takes from the video, which the advertiser cannot choose.

• Reservation in-feed: words visible from the start, colour fills at 2 seconds.
• Auction ads bought on CPM or CPC: words from the start, colour at 5 seconds.
• Auction ads optimised for conversions (oCPM): words appear at 3, 4 or 5 seconds and colour at 4 to 7 seconds, varying by viewer.
• Auction ads bought on views (CPV): words at 5 or 6 seconds, colour at 4 to 8.

What this means in practice: the first two seconds of the video must work with no button on screen. If your offer only makes sense next to the call to action, most people will have scrolled on before they see the two together.

The label list

TikTok offers 25 call to action labels, written in sentence case and translated automatically into each viewer's language. For landing pages the options include Learn more (the default), Shop now, Sign up, Book now, Order now, Contact us, Apply now, Get quote, Download, Subscribe, Watch now, Listen now, Read more, Visit store and Get ticket now. App campaigns draw on a shorter list. Alternatively, Dynamic CTA lets TikTok pick the words, the timing and the colour for each viewer.

Safe zones come as a template, not numbers

TikTok does not publish its safe zone as fixed measurements. How much of the frame the caption and buttons cover depends on the caption's length and on any add-ons, so TikTok supplies a downloadable template in its Ads Manager help pages, including Arabic right to left versions. Treat that template as the reference.

For rough planning, published estimates for a 1080 by 1920 video put the covered area at about the top 120 to 130 pixels, the bottom 380 to 500 pixels and the right-hand 110 to 140 pixels, where the rail sits. Those estimates do not agree with one another, which is the best argument for downloading the template.

The parts you cannot style

TikTok marks paid content with a Sponsored label. Ads that are not Spark Ads show the account name set in Ads Manager, the Promoted Music line and the button, and none of these can be styled. All the more reason for the video itself to carry the message.

A checklist for your next brief

• Shoot vertical, with sound, and plan for the first two seconds to play without a button.
• Keep text out of the bottom quarter and away from the right-hand rail.
• Write a caption under 100 characters with no links, and let the button carry the action.
• Choose the call to action label from TikTok's list rather than inventing one.
• If the ad is a creator's post, run it as a Spark Ad so the caption, handle and engagement come with it.
• Before uploading, preview the cut as it will look in the For You feed, with the rail, the Promoted Music line, the button before and after it fills, and the safe zone marked.

If you are briefing TikTok ads for the UAE or the wider Gulf and want the creative to sit naturally in the feed, ALXO would be glad to hear about the campaign.