Google making friends with TikTok

Hi friends, welcome back! It’s been a week of unpredictable weather. I have been cocooning and scrolling my phone even more. Interestingly, TikTok is partnering with Google, serving users with Google search results on its result page. Maybe they just allied after both having been scrutinized by the legislation?

So, what is happening?

Now, TikTok is making search more convenient on their app. App researchers found that TikTok has integrated Google search prompts into some of its in-app search results. Now, it will allow you to expand your search onto Google with a CTA button. Some users have also seen Wikipedia snippets on their TikTok result pages, which TikTok confirmed to have launched for a few months.

According to Cloudflare, TikTok ranked number 1 among all internet domains globally, outranking the tech giant Google. Wow, good work team TikTok! The surge of COVID-19 has certainly contributed to some of TikTok’s growth. Also, as Gen Z started flexing its buying power, the digital landscape is evolving with the changing demands of the rising consumer base.

The pros of this integration

With TikTok becoming a search engine for many younger users, Google might have felt some threats. While TikTok may be at a stage of trying to explore more opportunities in the digital space, collaboration might help both companies spur innovation.

• Improve infrastructure
• Google’s well-established infrastructure and data analytics tool can fuel TikTok’s growth to be a multi-functional platform. Leveraging Google’s infrastructure, TikTok can also improve its app performance and scalability.
• Sharing traffic
• Google can obtain traffic from TikTok and try to maintain its dominance in the search game. Tapping into the social media game might be a good choice for Google, with immense data at its hands, the company already has a head start in the competition.
• Better monetization
• TikTok might have found a better path to monetization. Holding immense internet traffic and being favored by the rising generation, TikTok certainly has some bargaining power in the ad market. Seeing Google’s integration into the app, other companies might follow with similar approaches.

But every coin has two sides

Being the two companies under scrutinization of the legislation, TikTok and Google still need to be extra cautious with their collaboration.

• Data safety concerns
• Google is under an antitrust lawsuit, and we might still remember the headlines TikTok made during the hearings. It may raise further concerns about forming a duopoly. So, how the market will perceive this collaboration? We will wait and see.
• Content moderation
• With different content offerings, TikTok and Google will have very different policies on content moderation. A collaboration may complicate the processes, thus impeding content creation and content sharing.
• Dilution of brand identity
• While the two platforms have very different features and functionalities, an integration of them might confuse the users. As users, we might not want to see both platforms lose their uniqueness and distinct identities.

Personally, I’m excited to see these digital platforms bring more fun stuff to the table. How do you like this collaboration? Which platform is your favorite, and what integration would you like to see?