TikTok and Instagram , but especially TikTok , pose a major threat to Google 's business , which doesn't seem to be limited to YouTube . Google's core services, including Search and Maps , are also being impacted by the growing preference of young people for social media. According to statements by a Google executive at an event, younger users tend to use TikTok and Instagram to do various searches that were traditionally done on Google, Search and Maps. 's services
Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who heads Google's Knowledge & Information organization, mentioned the popular social apps in a talk at the Brainstorm Tech in Colorado.
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“We keep learning, time and time again, that new Internet users don’t have the expectations and mindset that we’re used to,” Raghavan said, adding, “the queries they’re asking are completely different.”
Raghavan observed that new users don't tend to type in keywords, but rather seek to discover content "in new, more immersive ways."
“In our studies, almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place to eat lunch, don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” he continued. “They go to TikTok or Instagram.”
These results came from an internal Google survey of American users aged 18 to 24. The data has not yet been made public.
While older internet users probably won’t turn to social media apps to find a restaurant, this trend could affect Google over time. After all, younger users are the ones who are most engaged online. And while younger people might open a map app to navigate, they don’t necessarily use Google Maps. That means all the work Google has done over the years to organize, curate, and recommend businesses like local restaurants might not matter as much to younger users . Plus, the company has spent decades and countless dollars refining its Search algorithms. It also makes a lot of money from ads sold in response to search queries.
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Raghavan also explained how younger people are generally interested in more “visually rich forms” of search and discovery, and that wasn’t just limited to where to eat. He pointed out that young people coming online today have never seen a paper map, but maps apps are designed to look like a paper map on their phone. According to the Google executive, this doesn’t meet the expectations of younger users and “is the wrong experience to give them.”
“We need to create completely new expectations and that requires completely new … technological foundations,” Raghavan noted.
For example, Google Maps now incorporates augmented reality to help users navigate their surroundings, rather than forcing them to figure out which direction to take based on a flashing blue dot on the screen. The company also recently announced other improvements to Maps, such as new 3D features.
Raghavan also suggested that young people’s demand for visual content will also change Google Search. According to him, internet users used to type a few basic keywords into a search engine to get a list of blue links (results). Later, search engines became capable of understanding natural language and then added voice query. In some countries, voice queries are extremely popular, as young internet users don’t even bother with typing.
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Today, Google is looking to combine images and text as it imagines a future where users could hold up their phone – or perhaps wear AR glasses – to initiate a search based on what they see.
Until then, however, Google needs to address competition from TikTok and Instagram and make Google Maps and Search more attractive.
The shift toward Instagram and TikTok has led Google to strike deals that would allow it to show Instagram and TikTok videos in Search. You can already see some of that progress. If you search for a keyword followed by the word “TikTok,” Google will display rows of TikTok video results before showing you standard web pages.
But Google has also begun leveraging artificial intelligence to analyze videos on the Web and direct users to richer search results, Raghavan said.
Source: techcrunch.com
