Happy almost Friday!

If any members of the FAANG clan (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) are still NOT watching TikTok closely… they should be.

If you haven’t seen it yet, a recent report revealed that 40% of Gen Z prefers TikTok to Google now for online searches.

Wait, why?

Well, I thought the best way to get to the bottom of this would be to see what Gen Z is saying about the topic directly from the source, TikTok.

A handful of TikTok's have already been posted around the "TikTok vs. Google" battle, and the comment section is a goldmine for answers. Below are some of the best, pulled from one of the top videos (Creator: JT Barnett). Enjoy :)

Cheers,

Joe

User comments: TikTok from JT Barnett

These quotes are pulled directly from TikTok users on "why do you prefer searching on TikTok as opposed to Google?"

“It’s like skipping straight to the reviews/demo”

“It’s true. If you Google anything you get the LEAST human results possible whereas Tiktok gets you results from real people!!”

“So true!!👏🏻 I go to TikTok for every question, it’s so much easier to have someone explain it in their words”

“It gets to the point in 20 seconds”

“I’ve caught myself doing this as well I prefer to tiktok it than Google because I’d prefer to listen to someone and watch then read it”

“Yes! I’ve been using TT as a search engine and I’m gen X. I get info quickly and easily for anything I can think of.”

Do these quotes align with expert analysis?

ABC News interviewed Adrienne Sheares’s (a social media consultant who forms Gen Z focus groups at scale) to get her take, and the story adds up.

When asked why Gen Z members are doing more searches on TikTok, Adrienne states, “They don’t have a long attention span. They want to get the information really quickly and not have to sort”.

Sheare’s mentions that Gen Z is not only dissatisfied with the quality of Google’s searches, but that it tends to force them to sift through advertisements. TikTok browsing is personable, consumable, instant, and bite sized.

My question is, how is Google going to respond after learning that their largest new consumer base is finding answers to their search questions elsewhere. Only time will tell.

❤️ Enjoy this piece?

Share The Journey newsletter with another marketer on your team.

All you need to do is copy and paste the link 😀