ContHunt is the short-form research tool for scoring a public UGC video you did not run and did not film. It watches the video and keeps the score next to it. The ad account that paid for the post, and the creator’s private analytics, stay where they are.
UGC ad formats that sell names the seven shapes and the line you put in a brief. This page scores one public video of one of those shapes. A format name is not a score. A video can be an honest review and still fail, because the verdict is a caption and the frame is an unboxing.
A public UGC video you do not own is scored from the video, not from the ad account. ContHunt watches the post and keeps five checks beside it: the job in the first three seconds, the proof on camera, whether the words match the footage, whether the top comments ask a product question, and a public ratio only when the post shows saves or shares. Two more lines sit beside the total and add no points. Disclosure is the label, the hashtag, or the spoken ad line you can see, or the words “no disclosure on the post.” The ask is the buy, code, or link sentence, and whether it is spoken, on screen, in the caption, or missing. An ask that lives only in the caption fails the words check. A missing label is not proof the video was organic. A visible label is not proof it sold. The brief uses the proved line and leaves a caption-only code out.
What can you score without the ad account?#
You can score what a viewer can see. You cannot score what the ads manager would show the brand.
| On the public video | In the ad account, which you do not have |
|---|---|
| The opening, the proof, the words, the comments | Cost, purchases, and the rate at which people stayed |
| A disclosure label, a code, or the absence of both | The contract, the usage window, and the fee |
| The format, matched to one of the seven | Whether this post “won” the test |
How to score a TikTok you do not own is the five-check rubric, scored 0 to 2, out of 10. Use it unchanged:
- The job is in the first three seconds.
- The proof is on camera.
- Speech, on-screen text, and caption agree with the footage.
- The top comments ask a product question.
- A public ratio, only when the post shows saves or shares against likes.
Leave a check blank when the post does not show it. Do not fill the blank with a hook rate, a thumb-stop, or a cost per purchase. Those numbers are not on the video.
TikTok’s commercial content disclosure setting is a label the creator can turn on. If you can see the label, write that you saw it. If you cannot see it, write that. A missing label is not proof the video was organic. A visible label is not proof the video sold.
What do you write beside the score?#
Two lines sit next to the 10. They do not add points.
Disclosure. Copy the label, the hashtag, or the spoken “this is an ad” in the words on the post. If none of those are there, write “no disclosure on the post.” Do not guess that a polished video was hired, and do not guess that a messy video was not.
The ask. Copy the sentence that tells the viewer to buy, use a code, tap a link, or follow. Then write where that sentence lives: speech, on-screen text, caption, or nowhere. An ask that exists only in the caption fails the words check in the rubric. It does not get a separate pass because the video is UGC.
When a public TikTok caption disagrees with the footage is the rule for that split. A code in the caption over a routine that never shows the product is the same failure as any other caption the camera does not support. The field guide’s brief line still has to be a line the frame can carry.
Which format is this video?#
Name one format from the field guide, or write “none of these.”
| What you see | Format name |
|---|---|
| Problem on camera, product in use, result | Problem-solution demo |
| Verdict first, one downside, who should not buy | Honest review |
| First open, one reaction, three details | Unboxing |
| Product as one step in a habit | Routine integration |
| Same test on more than one option | Comparison |
| One real comment, answered on camera | Comment reply |
| A stated experience, one mechanism, one limit | Expert explainer |
If two names fit, write both and say which one the first three seconds actually are. A routine that mentions a downside in the caption is a routine. The downside was not the opening. Do not average the seven into an eighth format called “authentic.”
The field guide’s failure modes still apply, and they are checks, not vibes. An honest review with no downside fails the format even when the proof is real. A comparison that names a competitor as the villain fails the format the guide describes. Score the video you have. Do not repair it into the format you wish it were.
What do the comments mean on a UGC post?#
How to tell a product question in TikTok comments from a joke is the split. On a UGC video, add one more label when the top comments are from other creators.
“What did they pay you?”, “drop your rate”, and “how do I get into UGC?” are a creator-to-creator thread. They are not a product question. They are not a joke either. Write “creator thread” and leave the product-question line blank. A video that draws other creators can still have a useful proof. It does not have evidence that buyers asked about the product.
A comment that repeats the code, or asks whether the code works, is a product question about the ask. It still does not show you the redemption. Keep it as the comment job. Do not turn it into a sales number.
What does a worked score look like?#
The lines below are an illustration. They are not a pull from an ad account or from a creator’s analytics.
The product is a serum for reactive skin. The job sentence, written first: people with reactive skin should believe it will not sting, because they see a patch test.
The public video opens on a forearm with two squares of product. On-screen text says “48h patch.” Speech names the serum and says “this is an ad” in the first sentence. The caption says “use code GLOW, link in bio.” The post shows a paid-partnership label. The top comments are “which one is that?”, “reactive skin?”, and one “what’s your rate?”
| Check | What is on the video | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Job in the first three seconds | The patch is the opening | 2 |
| Proof | Two squares, first frame | 2 |
| Words match the footage | Speech and on-screen text match. The code is caption only | 1 |
| Comment job | The top repeats a product question. One creator-rate comment does not lead | 2 |
| Public ratio | The post does not show saves or shares | blank |
The score is 7, with the ratio left blank rather than invented. Beside it: disclosure is the paid-partnership label plus the spoken line. The ask is “code GLOW,” and it is not on camera.
Brief the opening and the proof. Do not brief the code. You have not seen the code work, and the camera never showed it. If your product cannot show a patch test, this video is the standard, not your script. Film a proof you have, in the first shot.
A second video in the same illustration is an unboxing. The caption calls it a review and lists a downside. The frame is the mailer, then the bottle, and no skin. Format name: unboxing, not honest review. The words check fails on the downside, because the footage never shows it. That video does not inherit the first video’s score because both are “UGC.”
How do you pick between two?#
How to compare two TikToks without analytics is the sheet. Put two scored UGC videos on it only when they share the job sentence. The three differences stay the same: where the proof sits, what the comments ask, and whether the words match.
Disclosure does not break a tie by itself. A labeled ad with the proof in the first frame beats an unlabeled video whose proof arrives after a greeting. An unlabeled video with the proof in the first frame beats a labeled ad whose proof is a caption. You are picking a video to learn from, not a creator to hire.
How many public TikToks to watch before a brief is the stop. The ten are scored UGC videos that fit the sentence. A hired-looking video that fails the proof does not enter the ten. Deep Search can watch the pile across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. Open the videos it cites. A format count is the field guide’s job. This score is the decision about one video inside that count.
Does the same score work on a Reel or a Short?#
Yes. The five checks do not change. A Reel’s branded-content tag is the disclosure line when you can see it. A Short’s paid-promotion box is the same kind of fact. Write the words on the post. A missing box stays “no disclosure on the post.”
Compare two videos from the platform you will publish on. A TikTok disclosure is not evidence about a Reel you have not opened. Private insights on the creator’s account stay on that account. A high like count does not repair a code the frame never showed.
What do you write down?#
Six lines. The brief uses the proved line and the format name. It leaves out the ask when the camera did not show it.
- The job sentence.
- The score out of 10, with any blank check named.
- The format name, or “none of these.”
- Disclosure, in the words on the post, or “no disclosure on the post.”
- The ask, and where it lives. Drop it from the brief when it is caption-only.
- Keep, test, or drop. Keep means the brief may use the proved opening. Test means you will film your own proof in that place. Drop means the other lines, including a code you only read.
Get started by pulling one public UGC video, scoring the five checks, and writing the disclosure and the ask beside the score instead of inside it.
