Daily hacks: How to use TikTok instead of Google as a search engine

Gen Z prefers to use social media platforms such as TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram for their searches as opposed to Google, Bing or Yahoo.

This is because they would rather see a visual representation of what they are looking for, than to read through lengthy blogs and articles to get their information.

According to Insider, a Google executive has confirmed that TikTok’s format is changing the way young people conduct internet searches, and Google is working to keep up.

Google senior vice president, Prabhakar Raghavan, revealed at a conference that almost 40% of young people would rather search for restaurants in and around their city, than to Google Maps them or even search for them on the search engine.

“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 Raghavan.

As a creator or business, using TikTok to promote your work is one of the best ways to get recognised and to market your work.

When using TikTok for promotional purposes, it is important to be mindful of how you position your videos on the social networking platform, as attributes such as captions, hashtags, and text overlays.

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Making use of popular buzzwords and key phrases when promoting your videos and content can also be beneficial, and will ensure that your content shows up in more searches and on many user feeds.

Here are some handy tips and steps from TikTok’s support group on how to use TikTok as a search engine:

• Tap on the discover icon at the top right corner of your cellphone
• Use the search bar at the top of the screen to find content, creators, trends, hashtags, etc. Be as specific as possible to ensure that you are given the most accurate search results
• The most relevant search results will show in the top tab, but you can explore the other search tabs for closely related content.