Google holds the throne as the leading search engine, but according to Insider, TikTok and Instagram might be coming for its spot.

According to data revealed by the search engine, nearly half of Gen Z — whose ages range from seven to 25 — prefer to use TikTok and Instagram instead.

“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, they go to TikTok or Instagram,” said Prabhakar Raghavan, Google senior vice president, per the outlet.

 

Friendly Competition

Much like its YouTube competitor, the video app has become a hub for users looking to search for almost anything.

From deep dives on little-known facts to make-up and hair tutorials, TikTok offers those on the app a sense of ease when searching for videos, knowing that the time range will never go beyond the latest 10-minute increase.

In fact, research suggests that by 2024, TikTok will surpass YouTube’s advertising revenue.

To clarify things a bit here, Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion nearly 16 years ago, Investopedia reports.

In September 2021, it was reported that the company is still reaping the benefits of the purchase with YouTube contributing to nearly 11 percent of its overall revenue.

Setting the Trends

As one of the fastest-growing social media sites, TikTok has pushed the needle forward, inspiring applications like Instagram and Snapchat to introduce features that mirror their short-form video content.

@beyonce Seeing y’all release the wiggle made me so happy! Thank you so much for all the love for BREAK MY SOUL! – Love B —#RENAISSANCE #BREAKMYSOUL ♬ BREAK MY SOUL – Beyoncé

Keeping Up With The TikTokers

For Google, discovering such data has encouraged the Alphabet-owned company to step their cookies up before they crumble.

“We face robust competition from an array of sources, including general and specialized search engines, as well as dedicated apps,” Raghavan shared.

As the company looks ahead, the leading search engine detailed its plans to appeal to a younger audience, which includes allowing users to pan their camera over an area to activate a feature that “instantly gleans insights about multiple objects in a wider scene.”

If you don’t recall, the growth of TikTok first began during the pandemic when people flocked to the app to remain entertained during the lockdown.

Now, it looks like it might just be a matter of time before the platform possibly surpasses all of its superiors.