For Google, the clock is going tik tok for when TikTok finally brings the giant search engine to its knees. At least when it comes to Gen Zs.
While ChatGPT gets all the buzz, Google should me more terrified by TikTok.
Intentionally or not, TikTok is coming for Google search, testing a visual-search tool in its shopping tab, creating an imminent danger to search dominance, especially as Gen Z are looking to answer their probes on the TikTok platform.
Where to find cute dance clubs in town? What is the best Italian café/restaurant in Paris? What art exhibitions are in London? Or how to find a remote AI job? These are questions that we, boomers and later generations use to find answers for, but not Zoomers. They are seeking advice from TikTok, an app that explodes with dance trends, pop music, and stimulating short videos.
The visual-search tool enables users to take a photo and use it to search for inventory within TikTok’s shop tab, according to Adweek and it is reportedly being tested in select markets outside of the U.S.
TikTok’s video app has already beaten Google’s as early as 2021, by the count of searches on these apps, according to web performance company Cloudflare.
TikTok garners over three million downloads worldwide and a growing audience using its search engine.
Read: Mastering TikTok SEO and using the media as a search engine
Why Gen Z goes for TikTok
TikTok uses a short-video app that acts as a search engine for some Gen Zs.
We need to remember that Gen Zs are not programmed like most of their elders to browse and search on Google. They’re TikTokers by birth and their search behavior was built right on that app.
And while Gen Z is adopting TikTok massively, more than 150 million monthly routine users from different generations live in the US alone.
TikTok’s visual-search tool could challenge Google shopping ads, securing huge leads into Amazon’s e-commerce searches with the social media platform aiming to reach $20 billion oin revenues this year, according to Bloomberg.
TikTok’s rise in search has encouraged platform creators to develop SEO strategies to get their videos to show up prominently in search results. This means that the visual-search tool could facilitate sellers’ needs to get their products literally in the face of shoppers.
Gen Z digital users born between the late 1990s and early 2010s appear to have abandoned Google Search in favor of apps like TikTok or Instagram with youngsters today showing they are more interested in visual formats of search at the expense of text,
Gen Zs are true-blood digital natives who since birth have been besieged by the internet, smartphones, and social media. Handling multimedia and videos comes second nature to them and explains their affinity to preferred information sources from visually rich platforms.
Educators have taken notice of Gen Z students who also prefer to learn using visual means and materials that combine music, text, and special effects.
Entertaining multimedia for Geb Zs transform the learning experience and makes it more fun for them. TikTok short videos range from 15 seconds to 1 minute, a format that appeals to this young generation in contrast to traditional, text-based data that fails to capture their attention and imagination.
TikTok uses personalized feeds of short videos set to music and sound effects, and this caters to Gen Zs desire for constant stimulation. Even TikTok’s own algorithm has been programmed to further enhanced users’ penchant for selective exposure.
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