WebCrawler, Lycos, Yahoo, Bing, Google and… TikTok? The search engine giant Google
and video platform TikTok began
testing out a feature this week with little fanfare, and only some users
even have the access to see this new feature.
What is the new feature?
On the TikTok search page, users are seeing new cards that link to Wikipedia pages and Google Search boxes without ever leaving the TikTok app. Marketers have been asking the questions about Google losing some of its power among Generation Z consumers who favor the search options of Instagram or TikTok, and it seems the search engine giant sees this as a solution to losing market share.
For what began originally as a video sharing platform, TikTok has quickly expanded into other fields all at once, rolling out new shop features just last week to all users. The platform is quickly becoming a one stop spot for Gen Z users, and this extends to their internet searches.
Google’s senior vice president has acknowledged their loss of market share with
this audience, saying that
almost 40% of young people stick with social media platforms when looking
for a lunch spot rather than Google Maps or search. This figure signals a major
change from the way consumers have gone online for years, and it challenges marketers
to respond with optimized content, even if they don’t have a TikTok presence.
How does the new feature work?
With the feature still in a beta test, neither TikTok nor Google have commented publicly on the partnership, and it isn't entirely clear how pages are being crawled and integrated into TikTok yet.
In our research, the search term WVU yields no results, but the full West Virginia
University pulls pages from the school’s Wikipedia site. The feature also includes
sports teams, but its unclear why certain content is pulled or no content at all.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the feature finds no content, but for the Kansas City Chiefs, it pulls information about the organization from Wikipedia and provides another card with information about the 2022 season. For NBA teams, there is a search feature which provides a team’s schedule in addition to other information.
These search cards are placed between stacks of native content on TikTok, and clicking on the cards links users out to their default browser.
Why this partnership?
While the partnership may seem confusing at first, there are clear benefits for each organization. TikTok gets more data about its users by seeing what they’re searching for, and Google notches more searches from an audience that would have passed it up otherwise. Even more beneficial? TikTok, which is fighting state-level and federal bans, gains a friend and partner in the U.S.
Part of the quiet rollout of this partnership may be due to the antitrust lawsuits facing Google currently — another third party adding the service as its search feature isn’t a great look.
While this partnership is something for marketers to keep an eye on, it is good to remember that this is only in the testing phase. With the quiet rollout from both parties, it is unclear if this will become a permanent feature for all users or if Google results will become more integrated into the video sharing platform. No matter what happens, TikTok’s rapid expansion is something for marketers to keep an eye on — even if your brand doesn’t have an account.
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Emma Magruder
Marketing and Events Graduate Service Assistant
Emma is a marketing and events graduate assistant in the Marketing Communications Online Programs through the Reed School of Media and Communications at West Virginia University. She is a graduate student at WVU and involved in PRSSA and AWSM. She could always talk about what she made in her kitchen for this week and her favorite sports! Bitten by the travel bug, she loves to travel whenever she has a few days to take an adventure.
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Marketing Communications Today is a collection of resources for marketing communications professionals filled with industry research, marketing trends, and career information about integrated marketing and data-driven communications. Learn industry insights through the Marketing Communications Today blog, podcast, as well as Integrate Online.
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