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TikTok Cost per Search is TikTok spend divided by the website searches TikTok credits to your ads, for the same accounts, campaigns, ad groups, or ads and dates.

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Formula

TikTok Cost per Search = SUM ( TikTok Spend ) ÷ SUM ( TikTok Searches )

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How it works

Upstack recalculates the cost from totals. It doesn’t average the cost-per-search values TikTok reports for each ad.
  1. Spend: every TikTok row inside your filters, including campaigns that aren’t built to drive searches.
  2. Searches: TikTok’s page_event_search field, which TikTok defines as page search actions attributed to your ads. It covers website searches tracked as page events. Upstack doesn’t add any app or offline search fields.
  3. Divide: total spend ÷ total searches. If there are no searches, the result is blank instead of infinite.
Spend is converted to your reporting currency at each day’s rate before the division, so the result is in that currency.

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Worked example

A bookstore runs two TikTok campaigns in April. Only one sends people to a search-friendly landing page: At account level, the metric reads 6.40, more than double the reading-list campaign’s 2.50. Nothing is wrong with the reading-list campaign. The awareness spend sits in the numerator with almost no searches to divide it by. Filter to the campaigns that are meant to drive searches before you judge efficiency.

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How to interpret it

  • Lower is better only within comparable campaigns. Comparing a search-focused campaign with an awareness campaign mostly measures their different goals.
  • Read it next to search volume. A low cost on 12 searches can swing wildly next week. TikTok Searches tells you whether the sample is big enough.
  • Search isn’t the end goal. Check TikTok CPA or Blended Purchases to see whether search-heavy traffic buys.
  • Zero searches with spend can mean Search events aren’t reaching TikTok from your site, not that nobody searched.

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Why it can differ from TikTok Ads Manager

  • TikTok shows cost per search for each row it reports. Upstack divides the totals for whatever you’ve filtered, so an account-level figure includes spend from every campaign.
  • Upstack converts spend to your reporting currency.
  • Upstack doesn’t request a specific attribution window from TikTok. It imports the searches TikTok’s reporting API returns.

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FAQ

The numerator includes spend from campaigns that don’t drive searches. Filter to the campaigns or ad groups you want to judge.
Not in this metric. Upstack imports TikTok’s website search field only.
There were no attributed searches in the period, so there’s nothing to divide by. Check that Search events from your site reach TikTok.
See all TikTok Searches metrics →