As TikTok ban is delayed yet again, Ottawa County businesses fret over lost influence

OTTAWA COUNTY — The White House has once again delayed the U.S. TikTok ban, leaving the app's future a mystery for another 90 days — leaving millions of Ottawa County businesses in the lurch on how to reach customers.

Released in 2016, TikTok is a short-form video platform where users can post, share and discover an endless stream of content across many genres. Since being made available to download in the U.S. in 2018, TikTok’s popularity has skyrocketed, becoming one of the largest social media platforms in the country. 

The app has not been without its fair share of controversy. Because it collects user information and is owned by a Chinese company, there have been concerns of data privacy issues, which began a campaign from elected officials to ban the platform.

Originally slated to go dark on Jan. 19 across the United States, TikTok has continued to stay online due to two deadline extensions that President Donald Trump imposed; one on the original deadline date, and another 75-day extension on April 4. 

Now, with yet another signed executive order pausing TikTok’s ban, the solution remains temporary, and many people who have cultivated a large audience thanks to the platform’s unique algorithm are unsure of what the future has in store for them. 

Despite the Trump Administration’s reasoning for these extensions, TikTok being banned would be detrimental to millions of businesses that have used the platform to advertise their products and engage with their customers. 

A report done by Oxford Economics discovered that 4.7 million jobs across the United States have benefited from a TikTok business account in 2024. According to TikTok’s economic impact report, 64% of businesses using TikTok have reported that a U.S. ban would negatively affect their businesses growth, and 45% of small businesses on TikTok have stated the platform has been critical to the business's existence.

TikTok’s algorithm works particularly well on a local scale. Grand Haven is a city known for bringing many people from surrounding areas and even tourists to its beaches and summer-oriented events, such as the annual Coast Guard Festival. Many businesses have set up shop near the lakefront, generating revenue and positive memories for the people visiting.

While most of these Grand Haven businesses primarily use other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook for their advertising, TikTok often is used by those who visit these places and create content about their experiences. 

The Toasted Pickle is a local sandwich restaurant on Washington Avenue known for its assortment of handcrafted sandwich variations, sides and signature lemonades. Owned by Jim and Karen Avery, The Toasted Pickle has been a popular local spot in Grand Haven since opening in 2016. 

Jim Avery said TikTok benefits the eatery, despite the business itself not being active on the platform.

“Even though we don’t use TikTok, it is valuable to us because posts about The Toasted Pickle go viral on there,” he explained. “Regular people are very good at posting the food and the experience.”

He pointed to evidence of this influence. 

“One of the reasons we know there is an impact is that someone will do a great TikTok and whatever items were featured in the TikTok get sold a lot more, and we have seen this in both of our locations.”

“Believe it or not, there will be times when a certain lemonade flavor gets highlighted on TikTok and it becomes the hot flavor for a while,” he said. “We have had people tell us that they came in because they saw something on TikTok.”

Avery said a ban could be detrimental to his business. 

“We don’t post a lot on TikTok, but a ban will still have a big impact because it is how other people share what’s new and interesting,” he said.

The TikTok algorithm does not place high value on the number of followers an account has as much as other platforms. Instead, it takes the content and shows it to a highly targeted audience. The algorithm will recognize what people are engaging with the content and show it to more people with similar interests. 

In this case, content made by creators visiting Grand Haven is shown to people near the area, or who have shown an interest in traveling, and many more parameters that could potentially lead to a user visiting the city.

Taylor Dustin (username The Wandering Michigander) and Donde Cierraa are both creators on TikTok who center their content around visiting Michigan locations and businesses. They offered their insight on the app and its capabilities from the perspective of the creator.

“TikTok actually serves as a search engine and database,” Dustin said. “It is super easy to search for a term on there like ‘what to do in Grand Haven’ and it will pull up all of the videos of everyone who has posted about Grand Haven.”

She emphasized that the platform operates differently than other social media. 

“For TikTok, it really doesn’t matter about your following, it’s about search terms and keywords,” Dustin said.

“The longevity of a video on TikTok, especially for travel and things to do, is very long and it will continue to circulate,” she said. “I have had videos that didn’t go viral when I first posted them, but years later start to pop off.”

When asked whether their posts have driven actual customers to featured businesses, both creators shared similar experiences.

“Absolutely,” Cierra said. “Even across different cities, business owners reach out to let me know how much of an impact has been made. Some even pointed out items I specifically ordered, turned into bestsellers!”

Like Cierra, Dustin also mentioned times when business owners contacted her about increased foot traffic, while followers tell both creators they’ve traveled to specific locations featured in their videos.

“TikTok is special because it's amazing at connecting people within their own community,” Cierra said. “It puts a spotlight on creators and businesses you can support right now in your own backyard!”

Both creators, however, acknowledge the uncertainty about the platform’s future. 

“The drawback being how up in the air things feel on whether the U.S. will be able to continue to access this app or not,” Cierra said. “That’s disheartening to think about, but in the meantime I am determined to continue uplifting local business owners and sharing food finds around all of Michigan.”

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Dustin echoed the sentiment. 

“Obviously, we want our data to be secure, so whatever needs to happen with that needs to happen,” she said. “As long as they make it safe and it works for our country and everyone else I think it is very important that we don’t throw it by the wayside because it affects so many people’s lives, incomes, businesses, and the economy.”

For Grand Haven, and countless communities like it, the potential loss of TikTok would mean more than just losing access to a popular app — it would be losing a connection to visitors that is unlike other social media platforms. Whether this current extension marks the final days of TikTok, or if a deal finally is reached, the situation proves how important social media has become to the success of small businesses in America.

— Contact Diego Storck at dstorck@ottawanewsnetwork.org.