An employee looks at his mobile phone as he walks past the logo of the video-focused social networking service TikTok, at the TikTok UK offices, in London, on February 9, 2022. - With a billion users, TikTok has rapidly become one of the most important players in the music industry, and now has its sights set on revolutionising the way artists are discovered and get paid.
TikTok is in the process of testing a novel feature that seamlessly integrates Google Search into its in-app search results, as reported by TechCrunch.
The trial phase, recently uncovered by app researcher Radu Oncescu, displays a small box halfway down TikTok's search page, encouraging users to conduct parallel searches on Google.
A spokesperson from TikTok has confirmed to Business Insider that this Google Search feature is among the third-party integrations currently undergoing testing in select markets.
TikTok Experiments With Wikipedia
In the past week, The Verge reported that TikTok is also experimenting with directly embedding Wikipedia entries within its search results. As TikTok broadens its scope in multiple directions, it is evident that the app aspires to be a comprehensive online hub, catering to a wide array of user needs beyond just a repository of viral trends.
The inclusion of Wikipedia links has been observed in the search results spanning various topics. TikTok's spokesperson, Zachary Kizer, officially acknowledged this collaboration, emphasizing how it offers users easy access to information right within the app.
While Kizer mentioned that this feature has been active for several months, the company did not make a formal announcement, resulting in limited media coverage until now.
The Wikipedia addition appears within the in-app search results as users scroll down, positioned between related videos. Clicking on the snippet directs users straight to the Wikipedia page.
Upon closer examination of the snippet, user many find links to different sections of the Wikipedia page. However, these Wikipedia snippets are not uniformly available.
For instance, snippets for New York and Los Angeles are present, but not for Chicago. A specific search for the New York Mets yields a Wikipedia entry about the Mets' 2015 season. Some users have also reported encountering snippets in different languages, including Russian.
TikTok's Search Experiences
Last year, Prabhakar Raghavan, a Google senior vice president overseeing the company's search experiences, noted that the video app was evolving into a search engine in its own right.
While TikTok has expanded its search capabilities, it doesn't yet rival the depth of a conventional Google search. In the previous month, the platform initiated a revenue-generating strategy involving the inclusion of sponsored content within search results alongside organic videos.
Additionally, TikTok has joined forces with IMDb, allowing content creators to seamlessly integrate links to movies and TV shows within their videos. Users may also come across IMDb-related links and snippets directly in the platform's search results.
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