TikTok

TikTok isn’t just challenging YouTube for views. It’s impacting Google search traffic, too.

TikTok isn’t just challenging YouTube for viewership—it’s taking traffic away from other Google services like Search and Maps.

Prabhakar Raghavan is the senior vice president who runs Google’s Knowledge & Information division, which is responsible for Google Search, Assistant, Geo, Ads, Commerce, and Payments. At Fortune‘s recent Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo., Raghavan said Gen Z users are increasingly turning to social media when they want to find hot new stuff in their areas, rather than hitting up the ol’ Google search bar.

“In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” he said. “They go to TikTok or Instagram.”

Subscribe to get the latest creator news

Subscribe

Google confirmed this data to TechCrunch, saying Raghavan’s comments are based on internal research about U.S.-based users between the ages of 18 and 24. The data was not made public before now.

Raghavan added that Google “keep[s] learning, over and over again, that new internet users don’t have the expectations and the mindset that we have become accustomed to.” In terms of Google Search and other discovery methods, “the queries they ask are completely different.”

So what’s Google doing to compete?

Raghavan said Google knows young users want “visually rich forms” of search and discovery services, which is why it’s been working on wrapping augmented reality into Maps, so users can see directions and other info projected into the real world via their phones, rather than looking back and forth between the map on their screen and the street before them.

“We have to conjure up completely new expectations and that takes altogether new […] technology underpinnings,” Raghavan said.

More “visually rich forms” of tech are also in the pipeline for Google Search, Raghavan said, but it appears no new features are set in stone yet.

Share
Published by
James Hale

Recent Posts

Courts and governments say social platforms harm teens’ mental health. Here’s what the teens think.

Are major social media platforms safe for teens? The answer to that question could have…

5 hours ago

Want to know why streamers are hungry for live sports? Check out NBC’s Olympics viewership.

Live sports broadcasts have become a hot investment for streaming platforms. Leagues like the NBA…

6 hours ago

RedNote goes west with U.S. hires, creator outreach, and its version of TikTok Shop

It's been more than a year since RedNote had its big coming-out party in the U.S. The…

8 hours ago

Northernlion is holding a 6-day fan “supercruise.” But he’s not the only creator traveling with viewers.

On April 13, Twitch streamer Northernlion announced plans to hold a six-day "ultimate streamer cruise"…

8 hours ago

At Coachella, Justin Bieber flipped the camera — and reminded us how YouTube changed everything

It's been years since we last encountered a piece of Justin Bieber drama worth chewing over, but…

1 day ago

With The Overlap’s acquisition of Mark Goldbridge’s channels, the soccer world bets on YouTube

The spending spree on YouTube soccer content shows no signs of abating. The latest injection of capital…

1 day ago