Is TikTok the “next generation search engine”?
Written by Lilly Steel, Managing Director
TikTok’s growth has been incredible. Not long ago she was a small social media app, finding her place in a competitive and hostile market. Fast forward six years and the platform has over two billion active users and counting. TikTok now competes with the likes of Instagram and YouTube to win over a predominantly young audience.
TikTok may be a video sharing site first, but for many members of the younger demographic, it’s a search engine too. This has not missed the radar of Google, the current most used search engine in the world. As TikTok’s search features improve, how can we expect the app to be used in 2 years time? In 5 years?
In this article we’ll delve into TikTok’s search features and find out why some are calling it “the Gen Z search engine”.
Why people are using TikTok instead of Google
TikTok’s algorithm is almost hauntingly effective, tailoring videos to your taste to keep you glued to your screen for hours. But more and more of the younger demographic are now using the platform for its handy search features. In fact, forty percent of internet users aged 18-24 use TikTok instead of Google to find places to eat, go out, etc.
So why are people choosing to use TikTok, a video sharing app, to make searches, rather than Google, a dedicated search engine?
The answer lies in the fact that TikTok is a very community-oriented app, which for many users gives the platform a strong feeling of authenticity and personality – something Google lacks.
When you plug a search query into Google, you’re immediately presented with an intimidating wall of links and text. You ignore the first few, because they’re ads. Any sites that didn’t pay Google to promote them either have a superior SEO strategy or have been in the game the longest. The highest ranking sites don’t necessarily have the best answers to your query.
This opens up Google to a huge amount of commercial bias. Not to mention the results page is only slightly more engaging than the yellow pages.
A search on TikTok, on the other hand, is a pleasant and engaging experience. Entering “best restaurants in Chicago” doesn’t bring up a wall of text, but instead a collage of videos. Videos by real people personally endorsing places they’ve genuinely visited, not just been paid to mention.
TikTok isn’t subject to the same advertiser bias as Google is, at least for the time being. You also can’t game the system, using SEO strategies or paid promotions to ensure your site constantly stays at the top. TikTok serves up videos that have proven themselves to be currently popular with a lot of people. You get better information because you get the approval of real people.
You also enjoy better content personalisation from TikTok than Google.
Google can use browser history and cookies to push links to sites you’ve visited before and to customise your results page. But that’s about as far as it goes.
TikTok on the other hand continuously adapts to your content preferences and search queries, serving up relevant and trending videos that align closely with your interests.
This means if you searched for good places to eat out in your city a week ago, and a new and flashy restaurant just opened today, you’ll see recent videos in your feed about the place. Google doesn’t have this competitive edge.
Finally, TikTok offers superior ways to organise and save content you’ve enjoyed or found helpful. Many users take advantage of TikTok’s new “collections” feature, which allows you to add videos to designated folders for later viewing. Google may allow you to bookmark your favourite sites, but it’s just not the same, neither in organisation nor in engagement.
Why TikTok will never level with Google
TikTok is a video sharing platform above all else, and that’s not likely to change. It’ll never boast the sheer volume of information that Google does, nor can it function as a fully fledged search engine. A lot of TikTok users may benefit from the app’s search features but they’re just a perk – and the platform has its drawbacks too.
TikTok’s ability to glue you to the app contributes to a large part of its success. Any TikTok user who tells you they’ve never opened the app for a second only to waste an unacceptable amount of time on their for-you-page is simply lying. Hence TikTok is always going to be seen as an entertainment option rather than a research tool.
TikTok may be a fantastic social media app for many people, and provide useful and engaging information for some, but it doesn’t deserve the title of a “search engine”. And it’s safe to say, when up against real search engine competitors like Google, that’s not going to change.
