TikTok Spark Ads authorization code, how to authorize a video for a hotel's ad

What a Spark Ads authorization code is

TikTok describes Spark Ads as "a native ad format that allows you to leverage organic TikTok posts and their features in your advertising". The point for a creator is that the ad is your actual post. "Spark Ads use posts from organic TikTok accounts to ensure that all views, comments, shares, likes, and follows gained from boosting the video during the promotion are attributed to your organic posts." The engagement lands on your account, not on a dark ad copy.

The code is one of three ways TikTok lists for sourcing a Spark Ad creative. The advertiser can (1) link a TikTok account and pick from authorized identities, (2) receive a code from a creator, or (3) push new posts to a Business Center-authorized identity. The second route is the one that involves you. "Creators can choose to provide a code to authorize using their post in your Spark Ad."

Why hotels ask for it. A paid boost on your real post keeps the comments, the profile link and the follow button pointing at you, so the hotel gets performance and you keep the account growth. In a Non-Spark Ad, About Spark Ads lists a tap on the profile photo or nickname as going to the landing page or app install page, not to the creator's profile.

How to generate the code in the TikTok app

The steps below are TikTok's own instructions for finding the authorization code, quoted from the Smart+ guide (the Manual and Search guide has the first quote too)

• "Creators can find the authorization code in the TikTok app by going to the video that they want to share, tapping the three dots on the video, tapping on the Ad settings icon, and tapping Generate to retrieve the TikTok post code."
• Select the post to authorize, tap the three dots, then tap Ad settings.
• "Agree to Advertising Content Terms or Service."
• "Turn on the Ad authorization toggle."
• "Generate a video code."
• "Tap Copy Code to share the code with the advertiser."

Two things to check before you tap Generate. First, the caption. "You cannot edit a post's caption after it's been authorized as an ad. Please make sure the ad caption is the final version when creating Spark Ads." Second, privacy. "A private video will become public once it is used in a campaign, and the video privacy status cannot be changed during promotion." The Smart+ guide adds that "you can turn on the TikTok Ads Only Mode". The fetched articles do not say what this mode changes.

Durations of 7, 30, 60 or 365 days

When you generate the code, TikTok asks how long the authorization lasts. "From the chosen post's ad settings module, select the authorization duration (7, 30, 60, or 365 days)." Those are the only four durations the help articles name. About Spark Ads frames this as a cost lever. "Customize the duration of your authorization code to meet campaign needs and minimize costs."

Choosing a duration for a hotel campaign. A one-off boost around a launch week fits 7 or 30 days. An evergreen room-tour video the hotel plans to run ads against for up to 60 days fits 60. A 90 or 180 day licence needs the 365-day code. The fetched articles do not say if a creator can turn off the authorization before the duration ends, so match the duration to the licence window in the contract.

TikTok also notes that "there will be an authorization period for you to review beneath each post" in Ads Manager, so the advertiser can see the authorization period. One more rule to know before choosing. "Videos need to be un-authorized as a Spark Ad before it can be deleted from the organic account." While the code is active you cannot delete the post.

What the advertiser does with your code

On the advertiser side, TikTok's instructions for redeeming a received code are quoted from the Smart+ guide

• "Once you have received the video code from a creator, enter that code on TikTok Ads Manager. From TikTok Ads Manager, go to Tools. Under the Creative tab, click Creative library. Click Spark ads posts. Click Apply for Authorization. Paste the video code in the search bar and click Search."
• "We support a batch authorization of video codes of up to 20 at a time."
• "A video code can only be deleted when all the ads this video is used in are deleted in TikTok Ads Manager."

Scale limits worth knowing. "Each TikTok Ads Manager account can support a maximum of 10,000 Spark Ads." For organic videos used as Spark Ads, TikTok states "There are no restrictions on video ratio, video resolution, file type, video duration, bitrate, and file size", with one exception. "There is a 10 minute maximum on videos that can be sparked." Captions "can be left blank" and "Account tagging, emoji, and hashtags are allowed in captions."

The display name and text "will reflect the chosen organic post and cannot be edited during the ad creation process on TikTok Ads Manager", which is why the caption finalization matters on your side.

Rules while your video is authorized

• Cannot edit the caption. "You cannot edit a post's caption after it's been authorized as an ad." (Smart+ guide, Manual/Search guide)
• Cannot stay private. "A private video will become public once it is used in a campaign, and the video privacy status cannot be changed during promotion." Ads Only Mode is the option TikTok names.
• Cannot delete the post. "Videos need to be un-authorized as a Spark Ad before it can be deleted from the organic account." (About Spark Ads)
• The advertiser cannot delete the code while ads use it. "A video code can only be deleted when all the ads this video is used in are deleted in TikTok Ads Manager."
• Banned organic posts are out. "Organic posts that have been banned will be rejected in TikTok Ads Manager as well."
• You keep the engagement. All views, comments, shares, likes and follows from the boost "are attributed to your organic posts".

Duets and Stitched posts, two codes

If the video the hotel wants to boost is a Duet or a Stitch, both creators have to authorize. From the Smart+ guide. "To create Spark Ads using videos made by two creators, such as Duets and Stitched posts, you will need to enter video authorization codes from both creators featured in the videos." The order matters. "enter the video code from the 2nd creator/account into the search bar and click Search. When the system confirms this is a dual creator post, enter the video code from the first creator's original post." Both creators must have authorized posts allowed. "Ensure that Authorized Posts are allowed for the creator within the creator's profile in the TikTok app."

Code planner and video spec checker

Two small calculators, both using only the published numbers on this page. The first takes the campaign window a hotel asks for and shows the shortest single code that covers it, from the four durations TikTok offers (7, 30, 60, or 365 days). The second checks a video against the Non-Spark specs TikTok publishes.

Code planner, the shortest code for a licence window

Video spec checker

The in-feed article gives one format rule under Spark Ads (Pull), the type that a creator code gives. It lists the video format as ".mp4 or .mov". The ratio, size, file size and bitrate checks above use the in-feed (Non-Spark) upload specification only. The spec checker compares against the dimensions and file limits TikTok publishes for in-feed ads (9:16 at 540*960 or more, 16:9 at 960*540 or more, 1:1 at 640*640 or more, 10 minutes, 500 MB, 516 kbps or more). Spark Ads pull the organic post as-is, so this is a pre-check, not a TikTok verdict.

Specs that still apply to your video

Spark Ads pull the organic post as-is, so most ad specs do not bind you, but some do. From the Auction In-Feed Ads page. Spark Ads (Pull) video format is ".mp4 or .mov", and the ad captions are "Extracted directly from the organic video captions. A maximum of 4 lines can be displayed, including emojis." Compare that with Non-Spark Ads, which accept more container formats (.mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, .avi), up to 10 minutes, 500 MB, at 516 kbps or more, with dimensions 9:16 at 540*960 or more, 16:9 at 960*540 or more, or 1:1 at 640*640 or more. For Spark Ads (Pull), the in-feed article gives the video duration as "No restrictions". About Spark Ads says "There is a 10 minute maximum on videos that can be sparked." The checker uses the 10 minute maximum because it is the stricter of the two TikTok values.

Methodology and sources

• Source. Four TikTok Business Help Center articles, fetched 2026-10-29 with a normal browser user agent, all HTTP 200: the Smart+ campaigns guide, About Spark Ads, the Auction In-Feed Ads specs, and the Manual and Search campaigns guide. Raw HTML and extracted text are archived in this sprint's sources folder.
• Every quoted phrase on this page is copied from those articles. Text outside quotation marks restates the articles or describes this page's own calculator and examples.
• Where the Smart+ and Manual/Search guides state the same rule, the quote appears once. No figure on this page comes from my own deals.
• The code planner uses only the four published durations (7, 30, 60, 365 days). The video spec checker uses only the in-feed (Non-Spark) upload limits and the 10 minute Spark Ads maximum. Neither tool knows your deal.
• Rate bands, pricing and licence terms for hotel deals are on the hotel influencer rates page and in the contract template; this page does not restate them.

Limits

• TikTok revises its help center. The quotes reflect the articles as fetched on 2026-10-29; the Smart+ guide was last updated October 2025 and the other three June 2026. Later TikTok changes can alter the flow or durations, and this page does not check for later changes.
• The four durations (7, 30, 60, 365 days) are the only ones the fetched articles name.
• This page does not cover pricing, what to charge a hotel, or contract terms. See the rates page and the contract template for those.
• The site figures come from a data export of 2026-09-04; nothing on this page depends on that export.
• This page is information, not legal, tax or platform advice. Read the Advertising Content Terms before agreeing to them, and consult the hosted stay tax page if part of the deal is a free stay.