Why TikTok is a Threat to Google? Here's the Alarming Part About Search Results

Joseph Henry, Tech Times 16 July 2022, 09:07 am

TikTok has become a go-to app for some young users on the internet, especially if they want to search for interesting videos and updated trends.

However, the video-sharing platform is more than that-- it's slowly competing with Google in terms of search results, and it's alarming news for social media companies.

TikTok is Becoming a Threat to Google

Why TikTok is a Threat to Google? Here's the Alarming Part About Search Results

(Photo : Solen Feyissa from Unsplash)
Should Google be alarmed about TikTok? Here's why the tech giant is worried about it.

When we are curious about something, the tendency is to surf the browser and use Google Search. However, time has changed, and that's not the case anymore, especially for young users.

TechCrunch says that the internal data of Google revealed that about 40% of Gen Z users have a new preference when searching for stuff online. It's not an official search engine but a popular app in the form of TikTok.

As of now, it's no wonder why TikTok is outpacing other apps when it comes to popularity and usage. It's easy to use and accessible to everyone.

While it's good to know that it has reached more audiences, it's bad news for Google. For discovery purposes, teens are gradually shifting their preferences to a more convenient app like TikTok, even if it's not made to generate search results.

Indeed, this huge change in users' preference poses an alarming trend to Google and other companies. For Prabhakar Raghavan, the Senior VP of Google's Knowledge and Information, the queries that the new internet users ask have become "completely different" from the usual things.

Instead of typing a keyword on the search bar, the young users will only scroll until they stumble upon an interesting video on the platform.

TikTok is Hurting Google's Search Engine

This trend is not only affecting the minds of young users; it's also hurting Google's search engine. This might indicate that many people are now dependent on TikTok as a mode of online discovery.

This also means that all the things that Google did over the past years--from creating search options to organizing results will only be put in vain.

As of writing, the company is now evaluating to see how they will remedy this problem. To boost its search engine, Google is planning to combine both texts and images into one through AR glasses. This could be the beginning of a huge change that they are hoping for.

Perhaps, the only thing that Google can do right now is to continue competing with other social media companies. Previously, it said that it was seeking search deals for TikTok and Instagram clips.

For instance, if you type any keyword with "TikTok on it, you will notice that your search results won't direct you to the webpage. Instead, you will first see the results arranged in rows.

Google will treat TikTok as a threat as long as many new users stick to the platform regarding search purposes. As part of another strategy to ease this up, the tech titan wants to use AI to understand the posted videos better. This means that supporting documents might follow for the viewers to see.

In the next two years, if the trend continues to favor TikTok, there's a possibility that it will also surpass YouTube in terms of advertising revenue, Business Insider reports.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry