For many, TikTok has become a search engine. The video-based app is used increasingly often to find anything from travel recommendations to cleaning hacks to restaurant options. Now, it seems the app really is doubling down on its growing reputation as a search engine in itself.
TikTok is testing the integration of Google search results into their own in-app searches. Spotted by app researcher Radu Oncescu, and confirmed by TikTok to Business Insider, the third-party integration would see Google results pop up when searching on TikTok.
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Recently, the app was also spotted integrating Wikipedia snippets into search.
Google's SVP Prabhakar Raghavan, who oversees the company's search product, acknowledged the rise of TikTok as a search competitor last year. "In our studies, something like almost 40 percent of young people, when they're looking for a place for lunch, they don't go to Google Maps or Search," he said. "They go to TikTok or Instagram."
Topics TikTok
