Market disruption is common, especially when new concepts appeal to the younger population.
With platforms like Instagram and TikTok becoming the go-to places to start searches, this is proving to be the case. Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president of Google “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.”
The conventional usage of Google Search and Maps, which propelled Google to the top of the search engine rankings, has undergone a significant change. According to the firm, TikTok has been among the video-sharing apps with the fastest growth, and it just passed 1 billion monthly users.
Google currently claims that it is dealing with “robust competition from an array of sources, including general and specialized search engines, as well as dedicated apps.”
The younger generation’s predilection for video as their first port of call for discovery has a significant impact on the shift in search behaviours. Google revealed that many social media users between the ages of 18 and 24 initially visit TikTok or Instagram while looking for a place to have lunch. Google Maps or Search was the usual option.