TikTok Rolls Out Handy Search Engine Widget Because It Knows What You Use It For
Want to discover a new recipe to try for dinner? TikTok wants you to skip going into Google and instead use its new search engine widget to find all the answers you seek.
The new widget will now appear on the home screen as a search bar (much like Google’s own) with three other options below it to see who you are following, give you easy access to post things, and a direct line to your inbox.
TikTok might be an app filled with videos dedicated to dancing, cats, and just about anything under the sun, but it also acts as Gen Z’s preferred search engine as more and more young users head onto the app to find new places to eat and hang out, trends, and useful hacks. It also acts as a news source for many, keeping its audiences up to date with current affairs. Its issues with misinformation aside, the site seems to be pivoting itself away from just being a social media platform, and into a search engine as well.
Tiktok search widget is now in the iPhone 📲
— Carrie Rose (@CarrieRosePR) May 8, 2023
Tiktok has now launched a search widget available to all users on iPhone encouraging them to move away from Google and search on TikTok even further
The widget can be downloaded yourself by:
1. Unlock your phone
2. Press and hold… pic.twitter.com/THqmmw12Dj
The New York Times reported last year that its algorithm provided more concise and personalized answers that would have otherwise taken a long time for Google to seek out. In one example, a high school student looking to start private education was looking for a way to ask her teachers for a letter of recommendation. Instead of a generic answer that would have been prompted on Google, she took to TikTok and found videos of teachers explaining how to procure such a letter and even a template on how to write one out.
Google’s senior vice president, Prabhakar Raghavan, even said that 40% of young people visited TikTok and Instagram to look for new lunch spots instead of Google Maps or Search.
Additionally, last year, TikTok even devised a campaign in the UK called ‘Search it with TikTok’ to position itself as a search engine for the new generation.
[via Mashable and PhoneArena, cover photo 149374189 © Bigtunaonline | Dreamstime.com]
