(Reuters) - TikTok said on Wednesday it is launching a product that well let advertisers place ads alongside content produced by premium publishers, half of the ad revenue from which will be shared with those publishers.

The social media platform said brands including Buzzfeed, DotDash Meredith, NBCUniversal, UFC and WWE will be the first to join at the launch of the product called Pulse Premiere on May 4.

It is an extension of TikTok's Pulse program, which lets marketers place their brand next to the top 4% of content on the platform, the company said.

The move by the short-video sharing app, which has focused largely on independent creators, comes at a time of tighter ad spending by brands hurt by curbed consumer spending.

Owned by China's ByteDance, the app faces growing pressure in Washington including calls to ban the app by many in Congress who fear its U.S. user data could fall into the hands of China's government.

TikTok in March said it had 150 million monthly active users in the United States, up from 100 million in 2020.