TikTok was discovered to be testing a new search feature, raising questions about its viability as a search engine.
Interestingly, a lot of people already use it as one.
According to a screenshot shared on Twitter, TikTok started showing suggested search terms when viewing the comments section of a video.
TikTok shows “Search” above comments.by subject @matnavarra pic.twitter.com/EKAUNQfvCq
— Jonah Manzano (@jonah_manzano) June 1, 2022
To learn more about this feature, I browsed Twitter to see if anyone else was talking about it.
Ultimately, I want to answer this question: ‘What if people started using TikTok as a search engine?‘
Instead, I’ve found that some people see TikTok as a search provider, and some even prefer it to Google.
Questions quickly go from ‘if” to ‘What should we do now?‘
We’ve stopped questioning TikTok’s potential as a search platform. Users decide and increasingly turn to TikTok for their information needs.
But what are the implications for digital marketers?
“It turns out TikTok is a better search engine than Google”
The headline above is a quote from a viral tweet from last month.
I’m not even kidding, but it turns out TikTok is a better search engine than Google these days
-KA (@ikeko__) May 30, 2022
It’s unclear whether the tweet, which received more than 110,000 likes and 14,000 retweets, was because of a bold comparison between TikTok and Google, or because people agreed with it.
Replies and quoted tweets suggest this is a combination of the two. See what people are saying.
Why do people use TikTok as a search engine?
The increasing use of TikTok as a search engine stems from several factors:
- short attention span
- unsatisfactory google result
- visual learning style
‘We are getting lazy. We want visual effects,‘read one Top Replies – Shows how brief attention spans have contributed to the popularity of TikTok’s search.
Another reason people look for information in non-traditional search engines like TikTok is, Dissatisfied with Google’s results.
Top Reply to Viral Tweet Suggest The quality of Google search results is no longer what it used to be:
“Gosh, Google used to be so powerful, but now so meaningless. Useful results are hidden deep within the page. 95% of the answers they provide in the dropdown menu at the top of the search results are simply wrong, often even inconsistent with what was presented the problem is irrelevant.”
It also boils down to study methodbecause some people retain information better when presented in visual form.
While users can get visual and textual information on Google, as a Twitter user point outit needs to look at a few things to get what it needs.
“They have a video explanation and proof in one, it explains and it breaks it down. Google wants me to click too many links.”
As I went down the rabbit hole of Twitter replies, I found another piece of evidence that search preferences were changing.
Paul Allen, CEO of Soar.com and founder of Ancestry.com Vote on LinkedIn A few months ago, he asked his network if he “knows any young people who use TikTok or Instagram Reels as their main search engine.”
A quarter of respondents said Yes.
Arguments against TikTok as a search engine
If you look at the quoted tweet from the viral tweet that kicked off the whole discussion, you get a different point of view, where people who oppose TikTok as a search engine seem to outnumber those who support it.
I can’t share many negative opinions here due to the colorful language used. Still, to be sure, naysayers are enthusiastic about the belief that TikTok search is not suitable for keeping up with current news and events.
That’s because they don’t trust TikTok as a source, claiming the app spreads misinformation. This happens to be the common view of most US users.
Research shows Americans trust Google significantly more than TikTok, which is considered the most distrust Tech giant.
The consensus seems to be that TikTok search is better for finding tips, trends, recipes, hobbies, and information on less serious topics.
What does TikTok as a search engine mean for digital marketers?
If you use social media, the shift to TikTok as a search engine is worth watching.
TikTok is fast becoming a threat to other social media sites and even Google.
By the end of 2021, TikTok will surpass Google and become the Most Popular Domain Names. In the first quarter of 2022, TikTok is Most downloaded app All categories worldwide.
The tech giants realized the threat posed by TikTok and responded by doubling down on short videos.
Google has been pushing web story and YouTube ShortsAnd Meta is making reel An integral part of Facebook and Instagram.
Short video is having a resurgence across the web, and it’s not just TikTok that people are searching for.On YouTube, which is also often used as a search engine, short videos are now being generated 30 billion views every day.
For marketers, it’s time to consider responding to the demand for short videos by adding them to your content strategy.
Demand for TikTok-like content isn’t slowing down anytime soon, with support for the format from Google and other tech giants at an all-time high.
Now is a great time to expand your business and attract new customers by diversifying your content output.
Insights from SEJ Experts
I reached out to industry veterans on the Search Engine Journal team to get their thoughts on TikTok as a search engine, as this isn’t the first time this has happened to a social media site.
I asked managing partner Brent Csutoras: If anything, how should this paradigm shift be handled?
“Part of your job as a marketer is to find where people are telling stories that impact your target audience,” he explains. “Learn how effective storytelling is on that platform, then engage with your own story in a way that your new audience will respect and ultimately accept and engage with.”
Csutoras continued: “We’ve seen social aggregators become search engines over the years, from the Delicious days to Reddit and YouTube to now TikTok. Anywhere users start searching for content on a regular basis through search is something marketers should be looking at and Participate in places as long as they have a meaningful story to tell the audience.”
anyhow
No matter how you feel about people searching on TikTok, they are doing it, and some even use it instead of Google.
So if that’s where your audience is going, that’s where you need to be.
This doesn’t mean you need to give up what you’re currently working on. Instead, think about how to make that content discoverable on TikTok.
One route many publishers are taking is to repurpose traditional content. For example, adapting web articles for short videos.
People searching for the topic on TikTok will find the video, and if they want to learn more than the short clip can convey, they’ll visit the publisher’s website.
As Csutoras put it: this is no different from the evolution of social networks in the past. It’s just a different medium.
Featured image: Diego Thomazini/Shutterstock
