How did TikTok become a search engine?
One of the driving factors of TikTok’s ongoing success is its universal appeal.
While Gen Z makes up the lion’s share (around 40%) of users, people from various age brackets engage with, and create content for, the platform regularly. In fact, studies show that around one in five TikTok users are between 40 and 49 years of age.
Another clear driver of TikTok’s impressive growth is its ability to evolve with the ever-shifting digital landscape.
To showcase its commitment to providing a seamless user search experience, the brand launched an interesting marketing campaign in the UK to make the most of its new search-centric tendencies.
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Featuring powerful influencers, including Hardest Geezer (who’s running the entire length of Africa) and MadeWithMud (a creative pottery enthusiast) the video-based campaign clearly showcases TikTok’s information-serving and community-harnessing value beyond novelty dance challenges.
This campaign is also notable for its melting pot of marketing outlets: the channels include traditional television advertising, BVOD, social media, radio, podcast, in-app, and savvy out-of-home (OOH) placement.
This punchy and aspirational initiative has earned lots of positive engagement across channels and helped put TikTok on the map as a viable search and content discovery tool.
Read more: Learn how to create TikTok content
What are TikTok’s key search features?
Let’s take a look at the platform’s most recent search features.
Discover page
The Discover page on TikTok showcases personalized recommendations based on users’ interests, interactions, and browsing history. It includes a mix of trending videos, personalized recommendations, and curated content categories to facilitate content discovery.
Hashtag search
Users can search for specific hashtags to discover content related to their personal interests or curiosities. TikTok’s search algorithm ranks content based on relevance and popularity, making it easier for all users to find trending or niche content: #tiktokers and #aesthetic are interesting examples of popular niche hashtags.
Keyword search
In addition to hashtags, users can search for content using keywords related to their interests. TikTok’s search algorithm analyzes video captions, user profiles, and other key pieces of information to provide the most relevant search results. According to Statista, the terms ‘how to’ and ‘what is…’ were the most well-trodden keywords in 2023.
Sound search
Users can even search for videos using specific sounds or music tracks. TikTok’s extensive and ever-growing library of audio clips allows users to discover content based on their favorite songs or sound effects by searching the platform’s ever-expanding ‘Sounds’ library.
User search
Users can search for specific users or content creators on TikTok. This intuitive feature enables people to explore content from their favorite creators or discover new accounts based on their personal interests.
Trending searches
TikTok highlights trending hashtags, sounds, and challenges in the search results, allowing users to explore popular content and join in the latest viral trends.
In-app search bar
TikTok features an in-app search bar at the top of its mobile app interface. This enables users to quickly search from any screen for the trends, topics, and content of their choice.
Advanced filters
TikTok offers advanced search filters to refine search results. These filters are based on criteria such as video type, duration, and upload date. Users can use these filters to narrow down their search and find specific types of content.
What is TikTok’s future as a search engine?
TikTok’s flurry of new or improved search-based content discovery features certainly makes it an intuitive tool for seeking answers to questions and connecting with valuable information.
Did you know that video-based search results tend to enjoy a clickthrough rate that’s 41% higher than their text-based counterparts? So, it’s fair to say that visual search (a function that allows users to discover content, information or products based on visual assets like images or videos) is a firm part of any solid SEO strategy. Also, it’s easy to see why many digital natives regard TikTok as an essential search engine.
The source of the TikTok search hype
While there’s no denying that TikTok delivers the goods as a visual search engine, can it really catch up with Google in the coming months or years?
The original source of the hype surrounding the fact that an apparent 40% of Gen Zers use TikTok as a search engine is said to come from a statement by Google’s Senior VP, Prabhakar Raghavan, that indicated that almost 40% of Gen Zers were using TikTok as a replacement for Google. And, when you get down to the details, both TikTok and Instagram, were included within that ‘40%’ statistic.
