This time last year, TikTok officially surpassed Google as the world’s most popular site. The perfect storm of lockdown boredom, a Vine-shaped hole in our hearts to fill and the demise of other social media platforms saw this relatively new idea rocket past its competitors. To date, there are over 1.5 billion active monthly users on the app, just under 20% of the entire population of the globe. Let that sink in.
With such colossal usage figures and endless potential, many are now questioning whether TikTok will overtake the likes of Google as the go-to search engine, as well as whether it will replace traditional news outlets, and basically become our one-stop shop for all things social in 2023 and beyond. It’s an interesting idea that everyone in the PR and comms industry should take seriously. Let’s look into this a little more.
Will TikTok Replace Google?
I’ll start by saying that personally, I don’t believe TikTok, nor any other site will ever come close to replacing Google and its influence on the searching world. I think I could approach anyone in the street and ask them to look something up for me, and the first thing they’d do is open up their web browser – not TikTok. I’m sure most in the industry would agree with me on this too.
But that being said, I understand the sentiment of those who believe that TikTok *could* become the next big search engine. Because it churns out a lot more inspirational content. For example, if you were looking for Christmas present inspiration or NYE party outfit ideas, you might be more likely to look this up on social than via a web search due to the quality of the results.
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Jessica Pardoe | PR, Marketing and Communications Blogger | See All Posts By Jessica Pardoe 