How TikTok Is Beating Google
Since the lockdowns in 2020, TikTok has occupied the lives of Gen-Z everywhere. They’re constantly searching on TikTok.
It’s hard-pressed to find a teenager or young adult who hasn’t been sucked into the addicting short-form video platform.
Whether you’re making videos or just watching them, TikTok’s vying to become the most popular social media platform.
Whilst it competes with the likes of Facebook and Instagram, TikTok’s also competing with Google to become the most popular search engine, and it’s winning.
Google Search
Google Search launched in 1998 and has been credited as “reshaping the world”, giving every user a way to find a wealth of knowledge like never before.
And for over 20 years, Google has remained almost every internet user’s preferred method for looking things up…
… until Gen-Z got a hold of TikTok.
Google Vs TikTok
The first page of Google results will begin with the websites that have mastered SEO in a way that pushes them to the top or, more commonly, the websites with enough money to pay to be at the top.
Users know this and the validity and credibility of the first page of Google results have declined.
TikTok’s culture of authenticity pushes it above Google in terms of finding credible information.
Ads show up when searching on TikTok, but it’s mostly authentic videos made by everyday people, no ad spend to push them to the top of the search results.
Positive comments validate the information, as do the number of likes that are readily available to every viewer. The results are also … better.
They’re visual and can fit more on one page. You see what you’re looking for immediately.
TikTok’s search results are trustworthy because they come from real people’s real experiences, and not websites selling you tickets, products or experiences.
These TikToks aren’t selling to you, they’re sharing an experience with a community.
A Note To Brands
This is why brands should organically market on TikTok, especially smaller brands.
If you can’t fork out to be displayed at the top of Google Search or compete with the established, popular websites that are able to be displayed on the first page, you CAN tap into TikTok and make videos that will show up to users looking for you.
Just make sure your captions say what people would search for: Write, “Things to do in Bristol!” in the caption and your video will come up when people search “Things to do in Bristol”.
Anyone can show up in TikTok’s search results.
