Google on high alert because young people are now using TikTok and Instagram to search the Internet

In technology, everything is dynamic, and changes occur regardless of whether the replacement is underperforming the active system. Therefore, it is not surprising that after a long period of leadership, Google they begin to lose the favoritism of the young audience.

The data was revealed by the company itself after carrying out an internal investigation. According to statistics, almost 40% of generation Z prefers to search for TikTok and Instagram rather than Google Search or Maps.

The curious thing is that the Chinese platform is not a direct rival to the search engine and does not intend to compete with the functions offered by Google. However, younger people feel comfortable using TikTok for research.

Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, head of Google’s Knowledge and Information organization, at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference, discussed the future of Google products and the use of AI.

“We keep learning, over and over again, that new internet users don’t have the expectations or mindset we are used to, the questions they ask are completely different,” he said.

The manager insisted that this is mainly due to the change in the way of consuming content by the younger generation, taking into account that they are digital natives and are accustomed to audiovisual formats.

These 18-24 year olds with a different mindset and “don’t tend to type keywords” to search, but rather try to find results using a formula that escapes the traditional model.

“Almost 40% of young people, when looking for a place to have lunch, don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They’ve been going to TikTok or Instagram ever since they consider it more engaging”, Acknowledges the manager.

To capture the attention of young people, the technology company focuses on the development of visual products, for which it has implemented technologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as Google Lens.

In addition, it has implemented other measures to simplify searches within its platforms, such as on YouTube, which currently allows users who do not want to watch full-length videos to skip to the parts that might interest them the most.

The rise of TikTok, without restraint

TikTok’s proposal is also winning on Instagram and has moved YouTube off its axis. Both platforms tried to mimic the formula, creating Reels and Shorts. However, Google didn’t expect the power of its search engine to be questioned.

The rise began in June 2020, when YouTube overtook YouTube in terms of average minutes per day spent by users between the ages of 4 and 18. This demographic reached 82 minutes per day connected on TikTok, compared to 75 minutes per day on YouTube.

These figures were surpassed in 2021, as children and adolescents consumed an average of 91 minutes per day on the platform managed by ByteDance at the end of the year, compared to 56 minutes per day watching YouTube.

SL