Google tries to copy TikTok

In July the manager of Google overseeing the company’s profitable and powerful search engine made a startling admission. On the occasion of a conference of ForbesPrabhakar Raghavan revealed that younger users are hijacking sui social network the questions that would once have been placed in the company’s iconic search box. The Google studies report that nearly 40 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 would turn to Instagram or TikTok to decide, for example, where to go for lunch and not Google Search or Maps.

On September 29, Google announced that it will modify Search and Maps by including more images and videos in the results, including those from TikTok. The updates are meant to win Gen Z over and push them back to looking for where to go for lunch – or whatever – on the company’s search engine. The novelties represent the latest example of one of the hottest trends in the tech sector, which has seen companies like Snap, Meta, Twitter and even Amazon accuse, praise and sometimes to copy app ifocus on short videos. Apparently even Google’s search results page, one of the longest-running designs on the internet, can’t stand up to power of TikTok.

One of the changes made by Google will consist of a function called Exploration, integrated into its mobile app. The search results will be displayed in a continuous scrolling mode and will include photos and videos, getting closer to a social network feed than a list of links. Exploration will include videos from Instagram and TikTok, as well as YouTube Shortsthe 60-second video application created by Google in 2020. Cathy Edwards, the company’s vice president, described the feature as a service intended to help those seeking inspiration rather than a specific fact or answer to a question.

“We know that there is a category of users who really appreciate the results they see on TikTok, and I believe that part of this is due to the fact that the app has reduced the barriers to creating content and therefore there are really some. valid – noted Edwards -. We are investigating other ways to bring these users to our search results“.